The Candidate
by maidros78
Summary: A rewrite of ME, with a greater focus on storytelling and logical plausibility, rather than gameplay effects.  This story concerns a Shepard who is diplomatic, widely travelled and a behind-the-scenes character, rather than a direct interventionist.
1. Prologue

**The Candidate**

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. All that belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware. I am just playing in their world.

**Prologue**

"As you all know, ladies and gentlemen, the Council has agreed to consider our candidates for the Spectres, gentlemen," ground out Donnell Udina, addressing his audience. He continued in his characteristically superior tone, "After extensive evaluations of our candidate, they may select him if they deem him worthy to be a spectre. We need to send our recommendations on this matter." Four other figures stared back at him, all of them seated around a heavy oaken table, that was covered with datapads and dossiers.

At the head of the table sat the commander of the Arcturus fleet, Admiral Steven Hackett. This grizzled, scarred and grey haired veteran of the First Contact war had been sent down by the military secretary to the Alliance to decide after reviewing all the potential candidates. Knowing that the different factions in the military were trying to push their own candidate as a potential spectre, Admiral Hackett had been chosen as the final arbiter, given his own neutrality. One of the most sober voices in the Alliance navy, he could balance every faction and viewpoint with aplomb and style, and consequently, it would be his opinion that would count most in the coming meeting. This was the man Udina needed to impress most, if he was to get his way.

Udina looked at the others at the table. The closest to him was an elderly man, small and wiry, with steely grey eyes framed by horn rimmed glasses. This was the chief of Alliance Naval Intelligence, Rear Admiral Yehoshua Barzilai. It was his group that had done the heavy lifting in the wake of the Skyllian Blitz, building up their contacts and establishing listening posts in the Attican Traverse and the Terminus Systems, producing actionable intelligence that had made the raid of Torfan possible. They kept a close watch on the pirates, mercenaries, slavers and other riffraff, apart from the Batarian Hegemony. It was testimony to their ability that there had been no major attack on human colonies in the Traverse in the last five years. They had forestalled almost every major attack with precise intelligence, many of the worst criminals in the Traverse were safely lodged as permanent guests of the Alliance government thanks to their efforts, and, finally, they had arranged the occasional disappearance of inconvenient pirates or slavers. It would be Yehoshua Barzilai who would be proposing one of the candidates for the spectres.

Opposite Barzilai was his bete-noire, a short, dumpy woman, Rear Admiral Yi Lin, the commander of the Special forces in the Attican traverse. Her troops had performed many miracles, in the Skyllian blitz, in the raid on Torfan and later in the five years that followed, keeping peace in the Attican Traverse. Usually multi-talented and extraordinarily resourceful men and women, the combat prowess of her troops was beyond question. Times without number, the pirates and slavers had felt the wrath of her soldiers, and half the colonies in the Traverse owed a debt of gratitude to her troops. She would be proposing the other candidate for the spectres.

At the bottom of the table was the previously rejected spectre candidate and the most decorated officer in the Alliance Navy, Captain David Anderson. Much respected for his valour in battle and his other accomplishments in the special services, he was tipped to observe the spectre candidate. Besides, it was likely his ship on which the spectre would travel, since he was the captain of the _Normandy_. The reasons for that were simple. After an acrimonious battle with the Council about the impartiality of their spectre candidate evaluation, the Alliance had obtained the concession that there should be an Alliance observer along with the Council's evaluator. The observer would have no powers to intervene in the operations, but his presence was expected to exercise a salutary check on any Council appointee. There would be no more Saren style frame ups of the next spectre candidate, and having been the victim of the frame up in the previous attempt to get a human selected as a spectre, Anderson was deemed the best person to frustrate any such attempt by the Council's evaluator, since he would be constantly on the watch. The Alliance would make sure that any spectre mentor of their candidate would play fair. Having obtained the concession from the Council after applying the irritant in the form of an acrimonious speech about the Council's impartiality, it was now time to apply the unguent by showing the goodwill of the Alliance. Consequently, it was likely that Cap. Anderson's ship, the _Normandy_ – a stealth frigate that had been designed in collaboration with the turians – that would be the base of operations for the spectre candidate. That ship – a gesture of the human willingness to work toward Council goals too, while protecting its own interests – was also a technological masterpiece and was reputed to be one of the stealthiest vessels in the galaxy. Doubtless, there were other asari, turian and salarian vessels that could challenge the _Normandy _for the appellation of the stealthiest ship in the galaxy. However, the _Normandy _ was the stealthiest ship in the Alliance command, it was ideal for any spectre , Anderson was well known as a neutral in the factional warfare in the Alliance navy, and consequently, was the ideal person to watch over the potential spectre, without carrying any prejudices over.

As usual, Hackett began in his deep gravelly voice, without further preamble, "Okay, so who are our choices? Lin – care to begin?"

Rear Admiral Yi Lin began in her hard voice, "The choice of the Special forces is Staff Lt. Kaidan Alenko." She handed a dossier apiece to the other four at the table. "Kaidan Alenko – born in 2151 in Vancouver. Father is Captain. Kohlien Alenko – a much respected alliance officer, who commands a frigate – SSV _Novgorod_. Kaidan attended BAaT (Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training) after he showed exceptional biotic talents in his childhood. Fitted with an L2 implant, his biotic powers rival that of the asari. After completing his training at BaAT, he joined the Alliance in 2173 and he has a degree in chemical engineering. He was among the first reinforcements during the Skyllian blitz, and performed admirably in the conflict, leading his troops in a daring move to relieve Alliance soldiers at the damaged main communications facilities on Elysium and repair them to a functional state, keeping up the communications with the Alliance forces in the orbit. Two years later, he took part in the assault on Torfan, and led the unit that disabled the Batarian guns to enable our initial landing on the moon with minimal casualties, and helped secure the landing strip. His team was responsible for blowing up several pirate strongholds during the campaign. After that, he graduated from N7 with one of the best scores ever. Over the next five years, he has led several raids on batarian, pirate and slaver strongholds, always successfully. In fact, there is not a single failure on his record, and he has always completed his objective with minimum casualties. All his subordinates, both officers and men, have rated him highly and his ability to command is unmatched. He is our best explosives expert and one of the strongest biotics in Alliance service. Also, his cool head and steady nerve make him ideal under hostile conditions. I nominate him as our choice for the spectres."

"A worthy choice," muttered Udina. He had quickly reviewed the career and nothing stood out in his career as damaging to the interests of humanity, or Udina himself, in the Council. Also, an apolitical creature like him would be easy to guide in the maze that was Council politics. Udina could gain another ally. Having a spectre eating out of his hands would be of great use to Udina in his political climb.

Yehoshua Barzilai kept his tone carefully neutral, "He is an L2 implant, I see. Has he suffered no ill effects?"

"Some migraines," returned Yi Lin with apparent indifference. "It does not affect him any in the field."

"I also see that he was involved in an altercation with his teacher, one Commander Vyrnnus, at BAaT. One that had fatal consequences for the turian." pointed out Barzilai quietly.

"Staff Lt. Alenko was cleared of any wrong doing by the board of inquiry that looked into the incident," returned Lin stonily. "The turian attacked Alenko with a knife and ended up paying the price for his stupidity."

"I hope," murmured Yehoshua Barzilai silkily, almost with sinister relish, "there is no chance of such a thing occurring again under stress in combat."

Lin sprang to the defence of her candidate with alacrity. "He has been tested under fire and such a thing has never happened. His biotics are completely under control."

"I hope so, Lin, I hope so," returned Barzilai, the tone of his voice suggesting that he nowise believed that.

Admiral Hackett saw the need to prevent Barzilai and Yi from killing each other, and he knew this was his cue to intervene. "What do you think, David?" interposed Adm. Hackett, in his deep rumbling voice.

"He seems very promising, sir," returned the dark man who had been sitting quietly listening to this exchange, without a word. "But let us hear of our other candidate."

The others looked at Barzilai, and the small man adjusted his horn rimmed spectacles and handed out four dossiers to the others in his turn. "The choice of naval intelligence is Lt. Commander Johann Shepard. Born in 2154 in Strasbourg. Father – William Shepard, a rich businessman who makes rugs. Mother – Capt. Berengere Shepard – a high level intelligence officer in the Alliance Navy, who did excellent work during the First Contact War and later. As a child, Shepard was found to have biotic capabilities and more importantly, was reckoned as something of a genius with electronics and computers. His parents are rich and hired an asari tutor to help him hone his biotic abilities, so he did not attend BAaT camp. After getting a master's degree in computer science, he joined the Alliance in 2177. Organised and oversaw a masterly enemy communications blackout on Torfan. He was the reason why the enemy received so few reinforcements and so late. Also, he arranged viral attacks on enemy computers, orbital targeting systems and communications devices that left our enemy totally uncoordinated and incoherent. After that, he graduated from N7 with top scores and he was one of our first intelligence operatives to be trained by the salarian Special Tasks Group (STG) as part of the joint training efforts and officer exchange programmes. Even the salarian instructors were awestruck by his decryption and intrusion detection capabilities. He is probably our finest agent in the Traverse, and in five years, has been the spearhead of our intelligence gathering efforts. He has wide contacts everywhere in the Traverse, is very diplomatic, has broken into the information networks of every major group on several occasions, and is the main reason why there have been so few attacks in the Traverse in the last few years. He can get jobs done without any fuss, quietly and behind the scenes." Barzilai finished, a touch snidely, "He is also the main reason why Lin's forces have had so many successes in recent times."

"He is an L3 implant, I see. His biotic strength seems rather limited and he spikes much lower than the strongest human biotics," remarked Anderson quietly, as Yehoshua Barzilai finished his summary.

"It is more how he uses his biotics that is important," returned Barzilai drily. "Shepard, according to his asari instructor, uses his biotics in a rapid fire fashion – all moderate power attacks, but he uses his powers relentlessly, continuously. His instructor thinks that it is much more effective for his style of combat. When he does have to fight, that is."

Immediately Yi broke in, "What is his command ability?"

"He has always performed well with others, whenever it is needed, Lin," replied Barzilai

"He has never been tested under fire in battle, has never led a unit to victory. He is just a glorified hacker, and a back office wheeler and dealer," rasped Rear Admiral Yi Lin.

Barzilai shrugged contemptuously, "He is an intelligence officer, not a glorified bridge burner."

Admiral Hackett broke in once more, "Please, ladies and gentlemen." Both Barzilai and Yi fell silent at that, though both glowered resentfully at each other. However, Udina jumped in at this moment, "I have concerns about Shepard, Admiral."

Barzilai fixed him with a steely glare, but Udina continued in his theatrical fashion, "He was trained by asari and salarians with whom he maintains excellent personal relations, he has batarian contacts, and he has traded information with almost all other species' intelligence forces in the galaxy with no reference to the Alliance Naval HQ! How do you account for all that?"

Barzilai cut in coldly, "He has always put Alliance interests first! Ambassador, the Traverse is a huge space and there is no way we could possibly gather the needed intelligence from that entire space. The only way, I must point out, is to go into partnership with the intelligence agencies of other governments, particularly their law enforcement agencies. Therefore, thanks to Shepard, we have built up good links with every group that is not actively trying to raid or enslave us. It works for everyone."

"Links with batarians helps us, Admiral?" questioned Anderson skeptically.

Barzilai explained patiently, "The Hegemony has adopted an attitude that encourages pirates, terrorists and slavers to act against us. However, this policy has serious blow back that hurts batarians as well, to an extent. It does nothing to stop the occasional pirate lord or slaver from raiding the batarian colonies. As long as the damage to Hegemony's interests is not too catastrophic, it is tolerated. However, at the local colony level, the batarians want to keep their lives and liberty. So, while the Hegemony does not cooperate with us, plenty of low level colony officials and even the batarian army officers are not averse to trading useful intel about these bastards on the sly. It was Shepard who found out this by intercepting communications and he has built up a good rapport with many batarians – both military and civilian."

"So you actually condone giving useful intel to batarians with nothing in return?" echoed Udina incredulously.

"It's what we need to do if we want useful intel in return when we need it!" snapped Barzilai. "It keeps all of us alive, so I don't see what you're complaining about!"

"This sort of thing will make us a laughing stock among the other races! They will privately sneer at our ineptitude!"

"I don't see why they should," returned Barzilai equably. "They are all doing the same thing!"

"The best way of dealing with criminals and terrorists is to have a stronger fleet, with better patrols," snarled Yi Lin, "not by cutting deals with criminals."

"No amount of ships and troops will allow you to patrol every colony, and guard every interest. It would only bring down our economy," returned Barzilai icily. "The only way to do it is to build up stable and productive relations with other species. And it would help if you diplomats at the Council did not go around throwing your weight, rubbing everyone the wrong way, ignoring our long term interests to sit quickly at the high table!"

Udina rose to snap at Barzilai, but Hackett cut in before the debate escalated in acrimony. "Please, ladies and gentlemen! Let us return to the matter at hand. We are to decide on our candidate for the spectres, not debate our policies in the Council or towards other species!" Udina, Yi Lin and Barzilai all subsided, although the tension at the table was like electricity, as Hackett continued, "What do you think, David?"

"Both candidates seem sound, sir. Either would fit the bill perfectly," answered the captain honestly.

"But if you had to make a choice?" asked Hackett delicately.

"From the Alliance point of view, Alenko is the safe choice. He has demonstrated a very good ability to lead, is battle tested and ideologically sound. He would be practical and reliable. However, from the Council's point of view, Shepard will be preferable and is one they are less likely to sabotage. They will prefer a known quantity and since Shepard has been trained by asari and salarians, he fits the bill. Also, he is one who has proven his ability to work with other species, and one who is diplomatic enough not to cause embarrassing incidents," answered Anderson quietly. "However, his penchant for trading information with everyone, even our potential enemies, and his lack of direct battle experience worry me a bit. He is a bit of a radical in this."

"He is a damned xenophile, from the sound of it," muttered Udina. "He is the kind most likely to forget that he is a human, once he gets to the Council employment."

Anderson did not answer. He thought for a long moment, head bowed and chin resting on his hand. Finally, he raised his head and answered, "Even so, if I had to make a choice, I would pick Shepard, sir. He is likely to be much more comfortable with his Council superiors, and they with him. He can serve the Council without forgetting us."

"And the rest of you?" queried Admiral Hackett, looking at the others. Unsurprisingly, Yi Lin and Udina voted for Alenko, and while Barzilai voted for Shepard. Hackett thought for a long moment. He was aware of the arguments of all sides. The navy and the special forces wanted a larger fleet, more men and better equipment. They also resented the intrusion of the Council into the affairs of humanity and wanted a freer hand in dealing with the thugs that terrorised that the Traverse. While the Council rarely lent any direct help in dealing with these creatures, it was always too ready to intervene into human affairs in the Traverse. The diplomats wanted humanity to sit at the high table. It would give humanity a strong voice in the proceedings of the Council. As it was, humanity was forced to take care of its own interests, while keeping in line with the Council's wishes, which led to all sorts of ridiculous compromises. And finally, there were the intelligence forces, who wanted close cooperation with the other species. While the diplomats and the politicians might haggle over terms in the Council, it was the intelligence and law enforcement that were answerable for any attacks that happened on the colonies. Consequently, they cut deals with other intelligence agencies to share intelligence, both overtly and covertly, and were resentful when Alliance diplomats and politicians squabbled with their counterparts from other species, causing complications for them. All arguments were sound from their own perspectives, and Hackett was honest enough to realise that, even if he did not agree with some of them. He finally raised his head and then pronounced this judgement, "David, you will take both of them with you on the _Normandy_. You will take them both on the first mission. After the first mission, I empower you to make the judgement about who is better suited to be a spectre."

"Very well, sir" returned Anderson, while all the others nodded slowly. With the decision made and the meeting concluded, they filed out of the room, behind Admiral Hackett.

-(Author's Note)-

I have always seen Shepard being a powerful soldier, magnificent with his guns, superb with his hands, often with extraordinarily powerful biotics. I have never seen a Shepard who is only decent at combat, but whose strengths lie elsewhere. Always, it is Shepard who is the misunderstood creature. Now I am going to create a very different kind of Shepard, with not great combat skills, but other skills. And my Shepard will be a cool headed realist, a career oriented creature, but with a few scruples.

Secondly, I have noticed that in fan fiction, whenever politicians/others oppose Shepard, they are being idiotic/corrupt/cowardly and Shepard is always right. Now, in this fiction, I am going to look at the matter, not only from Shepard's point of view (which is very different from the ME Shepard's point of view), but also from the Council and Alliance points of view. Also, I will explore the various factions inside the Alliance. I might add that my Shepard is often wrong.

As usual, all comments and criticisms are welcome.

-(A General note)-

Now that the third and probably, final, instalment of Mass Effect is out, I have to say I was fairly disappointed by the whole series. The first game set up an excellent stage for the rest, but from there, the whole thing went downhill. While the companion missions and the idea of Collectors being Protheans was excellent, in general, I was disillusioned with Mass Effect 2, which wallowed all over the place without any serious, coherent and credible plot, forced me to work for the Psi Corps – er, sorry, Cerberus – and forced me to destroy a batarian colony for what? I mean – would the designers have made such a decision to force the player to destroy the colony if it was a human colony? What was the point of destroying the Collectors? Add in the death-and-resurrection bit, and it was quite unpleasant for me.

However, Mass Effect 3 completed the disappointment for me. While the general direction was no surprise (come on, how many of you doubted that the final instalment of the game would be uniting the galaxy against the reapers?), I was utterly shocked by the number of deus ex machina events pulled by Bioware. I mean – asari are smart only because they are all leeching off some old Prothean artefact? What is the use of their 1000 year life spans and 2000 year science lead over humans? The plans for the crucible have been stored for a long time, for gods know how many cycles, and in a place that was being investigated for at least 30 years, and no one noticed those plans until the reapers were in the backyard? The crucible is being built with engineers from all over the galaxy going there, and yet, the reapers waited until it was complete, without attacking it? The curing of the genophage was another deus ex machina (it is particularly jarring and offensive if you are a researcher in genetics or biochemistry, who understands how bio-weapons work), although, I must say that I saw the cure coming. Further, what was the point of Cerberus turning on you? I was on excellent terms with the Illusive Man in one of my playthroughs, giving him the Collector base and agreeing with his goals, and even then, he simply turned on me. Cerberus has taken two 180 degree turns in the series, from abominable bastards, to misguided and overzealous defenders of humanity, back to abominable bastards. It is simply agonising to think about it. And finally, that AI in the end, seems to function with a logic so faulty that it would be surprising if it were able to tell right from left, let alone design something as complicated as reapers and mass relays. And where was Harbinger in all this? It seemed to have a personal grouse against Shepard in the previous game, and it simply vanished in the last one?

So, I sat back and wondered what I would do if I wrote the entire series. I will adopt the Mass Effect Universe, and most of the cast, along with the vague outlines of the story, but all details will be filled by me. So, this is my attempt to write the story of Mass Effect. But there will be few deus ex machinas in my story, and all my characters (both heroes and villains) will have to rely on their limited resources at their disposal to solve the problems they face, and more importantly, there are no super characters in my story. Even Reapers will have their weaknesses. Also, my characters will have to struggle for their successes, and there will be no ready made solutions.


	2. Grim Defeat

**The Candidate – 2**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect or its universe. All that belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware. I am merely playing in their world.

**Grim Defeat**

Staff Lt. Alenko, Navigator Pressly, Dr. Chakwas and Corporal Jenkins were all seated in the crew quarters of the _Normandy_, sipping coffee, talking quietly amongst themselves. A few paces away, sat the new Executive Officer of the frigate_,_ Lt. CommanderJohann Shepard, with his nose buried in a glowing terminal in front of him, reading a research paper on the mathematics of a novel cryptographic algorithm, making notes in his datapad that lay on his lap. At this moment, the door of the crew quarters opened and Captain Anderson swept into the room, with a tall and well armoured turian close on his heels. All five inhabitants of the room rose to their feet to greet the newcomers and smartly saluted their captain.

"At ease," spoke Anderson, as he returned their salutes. He introduced the turian behind him to the crew, "This is Nihlus Kryik. He is a spectre."

If Captain Anderson had expected to startle his audience with his sudden announcement, he succeeded only partially. Kaidan Alenko lifted an inquiring eyebrow, while Shepard merely looked thoughtful. Apparently, the two were little given to exhibiting their emotions. However, their seeming indifference was more than compensated for by the other three, on whom the announcement had a far more dramatic effect. Navigator Pressly, and Corporal Jenkins both gasped in astonishment, and Dr. Chakwas gave a surprised start.

Captain Anderson continued with a terse explanation. "As you know, we're on a shakedown run, and our first destination is Eden Prime. You'll all receive further orders there. Are we ready to leave, Shepard?"

"Ready, sir."

"Good. Tell Joker to prepare immediately, then!"

Shepard saluted, and left the room. The Captain and the spectre also left behind the new XO.

"Well," muttered Pressly. "That's interesting."

"What's interesting?" asked Dr. Chakwas.

"This mission. With our new not-so-friendly-XO and that turian spectre, we couldn't ask for more on a voyage!"

Alenko was intrigued, "Not so friendly? What's he like?" The staff lieutenant had only seen the new Executive Officer greet his colleagues in the crew quarters with a polite sweeping bow, before settling down to reading something that interested him in the terminal.

"Brisk and businesslike," returned Pressly. "He came down to my desk, checked that all the communication equipment was working properly, and then left without a single word after his inspection."

"So now we're off to Eden Prime," murmured Jenkins. "It's a quiet colonial world, not a place where spectres would want to go."

"Exactly," returned Pressly, lacing his hands behind his head. "So this mission is anything but a shakedown run. I wonder what's cooking in Eden Prime that interests a spectre."

-(Scene Break)-

The first part of their journey with the turian spectre was uneventful, and with about half an hour to touchdown on Eden Prime, Shepard and Alenko were invited to a briefing with the Captain. Shepard and Alenko, who arrived first, found the turian spectre waiting for them.

"Commander Shepard, Lt. Alenko" nodded the tall turian. "I was hoping we would have a chance to speak."

Shepard simply stared quizzically at the turian, saying nothing, while Alenko queried, "About what?"

"This Eden Prime. I have heard it is beautiful."

"They say it is paradise," shrugged Alenko.

"Paradise, yes. It has become something of a symbol to humanity. But how secure is it really?"

Shepard stirred for the first time in the conversation, "Are we expecting any trouble?" Shepard's midnight black eyes were piercing in their intensity.

"I am always expecting trouble," returned the turian seriously.

At this point, Captain Anderson arrived and explained to the two junior officers that they were both being considered as possible Alliance candidates for the post of a spectre, that after the mission, one of them would qualify to be evaluated for recruitment as spectres, that Nihlus Kryik was going to evaluate them, and make his recommendations to the Council. Their mission was to go down, secure a Prothean beacon that a group of scientists had unearthed, and bring it safely to the Citadel. At this point, the pilot, Flt. Lt. Moreau intervened and displayed a distress signal from Eden Prime. The four viewed a transmission of Alliance soldiers being slaughtered by bunch of geth, as well as a clear shot of an enormous ship that had landed on the colony. The four men watched the decimation of the Alliance soldiers in hard lipped silence, none of them as much as saying a word, nor batting an eyelid. They had seen the like before. When it was finished, the captain turned to the others. Quietly, efficiently, Anderson outlined his plan. "Nihlus, you will go ahead and scout out the path. Alenko, take Pvt. Sanders along this path to the beacon" The captain's pointer highlighted a path from the first of the drop points to where the beacon was supposed to be. "Shepard, you'll take Corporal Jenkins along this route" His pointer now highlighted a second route to the beacon from the other drop point. "Except for Nihlus who'll feed you status reports, I want full radio silence. Securing the beacon is top priority!"

Both his juniors saluted the captain in token of their understanding, while Nihlus smiled appreciatively at the human's plan.

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard and Jenkins had landed on a rough, sandy outcrop, and they made their way towards the beacon, thanks to the directions they had obtained. Shepard and Jenkins moved with Jenkins leading the way forward, since he was from Eden Prime and he knew his way around. Initially, they faced little resistance. A few isolated geth were easily dispatched, thanks to Shepard's knowledge of the geth and how to sabotage their circuits.

The reached the top of a knoll, and Jenkins cried, "Commander!"

"Yes?"

The young soldier was pointing to a group of bodies, an eclectic mix of civilians and a few soldiers, all of whom had been shot down brutally. It looked as if the soldiers had retreated to high ground, where they had desperately defended themselves and the civilians, until they had been overwhelmed by the enemy. Shepard knelt down to examine the bodies. After a couple of minutes, he rose to his feet, remarking calmly, "Geth, for sure. All were shot by standard geth bullets and pulsers."

Jenkins was staring at Shepard and the bodies in a stupefied terror, not only at what the geth had done, but also the callous indifference of his commander towards dead humans. Shepard caught that look. He tapped the young soldier on his shoulder, speaking quietly, and for the first time since the mission began, his voice was surprisingly gentle, "Are you alright, Richard?"

The soldier started, and answered, his voice high, almost shrill, "Yes! Yes, of course, sir!"

Shepard continued in the same gentle voice, "Richard, coming home to find it devastated is one of the hardest things to bear. But you need to focus now! There will be time for grieving later. Let us avenge these people first!"

"Yes, sir! Let us give these synthetic bastards hell!" said Jenkins in the same shrill voice.

Shepard looked uncertainly at Jenkins, but did not say anything, and the young soldier continued to lead his superior officer to their destination. Until the duo came across three bodies that had been impaled on spikes. Jenkins gave an inarticulate shout of fury and darted towards the bodies. Shepard had seen many barbaric things in his time in the Traverse, but was, for once, even he was shocked by the brutality of the geth. He stood paralysed, staring the grotesque scene in horrified fascination, oblivious to what his subordinate was doing. It was only when the spikes began to lower and the `bodies' jumped off, that he realised what was happening.

"Jenkins! Get back!"

But the warning was already too late. The young soldier had almost reached the spikes with the intention of getting down the bodies of his compatriots from their impalement. He was completely taken by surprise, therefore, when the spikes came down and the bodies sprang upon him. The three erstwhile impaled bodies now sprang on the young corporal, wrestling him to the ground, blue arcs of electricity sparking from electrodes on their bodies, and burning and electrocuting their victim. The young soldier's scream of terror turned midway into one in which pain and shock were mixed with the original horror.

Even as the bodies had sprung on Jenkins, Shepard's mind had evaluated possibilities and selected the best one. He could not shoot at them for fear of hitting his own soldier. The three bodies were locked too closely with Jenkins, all of them thrashing on the ground, for Shepard to risk that. Given that he knew next to nothing about how these bodies worked, it was uncertain if he could overload or sabotage their circuits with his omni-tool. Besides, with electricity already sparking from them, he might end up electrocuting Jenkins worse, if he tried either of those options against the circuits in those bodies. However, one last option was open to him. Shepard's biotics flared into action – the first `body' that had sprung on Jenkins was held in a swirling mass of blue energy and propelled, head first, into a rocky outcrop close by. There was a sickening crack as its vertebrae snapped at the impact. However, even with its neck broken and head lolling grotesquely, the thing rose once more, and tottered towards its prey, but Shepard was already working on prying the others off Jenkins, which were clinging to the madly thrashing corporal like some foul apparitions from beyond the grave, intent on dragging their victim to his doom. Had Shepard been a stronger biotic, he might well have saved the young corporal by ripping both the remaining attackers off Jenkins at the same time, However, the commander was not, and that told heavily against him. His second attack once more caught only one of the two, and tearing it off Jenkins, sent it careering backwards to land heavily on the ground, a dozen paces from the wounded corporal. By this time, the first one he had flung off was almost on Jenkins once more, but Shepard dispatched it with a pair of tungsten coated rounds in the head. Jenkins' struggles had subsided into token gestures, his cries died down to feeble moans, by now, and Shepard once more used his biotics to fling the last one off its victim, his biotics lashing out, and pistol yapping viciously at the two remaining fiends that had attacked him and his colleague.

Two minutes later, there was utter silence, all three bodies utterly destroyed by a combination of Shepard's biotics, and pistol, and Jenkins had gone completely silent. With the attackers dead, Shepard hurried down to the fallen corporal, but the commander was too late to help the young soldier. The boy was dead, his armour ripped, his body roasted, and electrocuted, his eyes staring vacuously into the clear cloudless sky. Shepard paid his fallen comrade the tribute of a deep sigh, and gently closed the eyes.

-(Scene Break)-

Kaidan Alenko was speaking into his communications headset. "Yes, Captain. The beacon is secure. We also disarmed bombs to destroy the colony. There are no other charges around, sir!" Two soldiers, Pvt. Sanders, and another woman stood by him, looking with some curiosity and interest at the beacon.

There was a momentary silence as Alenko listened to some questions from the other side, and then Alenko spoke again, "No, sir, I don't know where Nihlus or Shepard and his team are. They've not come here. Hold on, though. Here comes Shepard."

Shepard strode into the spaceport, quiet and composed as ever. "Shepard, what happened?" inquired Kaidan Alenko. "Where is Jenkins? And Nihlus?"

Shepard replied, "Both of them are dead."

"What? What happened, Shepard?"

"I'll explain everything, lieutenant. But let's get this thing on the Normandy first." He gestured towards the Prothean beacon. Alenko looked at his superior officer for a long moment, nodded and began speaking into his headset.

Shepard looked at the beacon, which was glowing a brilliant, ghostly green, "Interesting. Actually working Prothean technology. It's incredibly rare."

A woman soldier – Shepard would later find out that her name was Ashley Williams, and she was one of the garrison on Eden Prime who had been rescued by Alenko – who had been standing near Alenko moved towards the beacon, "It wasn't doing anything like that. Something must have activated it."

Shepard strolled around the perimeter, while the woman moved further towards the beacon. Suddenly, the aura of the beacon magnified, and the woman was caught in its glowing green field, and inexorably dragged towards it. Shepard, who had seen the increase in luminescence, and whipped around to discover the cause, was shocked to see the woman caught in the field. Recking naught of his own safety, he sprinted towards her, caught her across the middle and flung her aside, and out of the field. However, in doing so, he had stepped into the field himself, and was now, in his turn, dragged towards it. His last recollection before he lost consciousness was his mind being assaulted by strange visions of war and bloodshed, while in the background, he faintly heard someone scream, "No! Don't touch him! It's too dangerous!"

-(Scene Break)-

When Shepard woke up next, he was lying in a warm bed in the medical bay of the Normandy. His head still throbbed dully, but he insisted that he was fine, and was released from the care of Dr. Chakwas. He was soon brought for a debriefing to Captain Anderson, who was with Lt. Alenko.

In a cold, passionless voice, Shepard related how after landing, he and Jenkins had run into isolated pockets of geth, how they were taken by surprise by the impaled bodies, and Jenkins had been killed.

"What were those things, Shepard?" questioned Captain Anderson.

"Afraid I don't know, sir." Shepard returned in his dead monotone. "They were – or used to be – colonists, before the geth did something to them to turn them into synthetic creatures. They had been turned into mere shells of what they once were, husks, if you like, with a considerable amount of nano-circuitry. The carried no weapons, but used electric fields to shock us, and grappled us with bare hands."

"And what happened after you lost Jenkins?" inquired the captain.

"I continued on my own. Ran into some more geth, but they were just rearguards sent to delay us, rather than stop us. Then I ran into the corpse of Nihlus."

"Nihlus was dead when you got to him?" There was surprise in the Captain's voice.

"Yes, sir."

"How?"

"A nearby dockhand named Powell, who witnessed Nihlus' death, says he was killed by another turian whom Nihlus called Saren."

"Saren? Are you certain?" There was considerable apprehension and excitement in Capt. Anderson's voice.

"That is what the dockhand averred, sir."

"Do you have doubts about that, Commander?" The captain had picked up the disavowal from the Commander.

"Nihlus was certainly shot by someone who carried regulation turian military grade pistol and ammunition. He was shot in the back of the head, from a distance of about two yards – I gathered as much from the trajectory of the bullet which had lodged at the base of his skull. It is almost as if he was taken completely by surprise, and was not expecting it to happen. It also agrees with what that dockhand says – that Nihlus was surprised to see Saren, and let down his guard, whereupon Saren shot him down from behind in cold blood. However, apart from Powell, there is no evidence it was Saren."

"Did you find anything else about Nihlus, Shepard?"

"Yes, sir. His hard suit computer and omni tool were both gone." Shepard spoke tonelessly.

"I see. What about Nihlus weapons?" questioned the captain.

"Lay near him. He had not fired in the area. I made a quick search, and I found no titanium plated bullet – which is the kind of bullets Nihlus used. No reason to believe he fired at his assassins. There are no traces of any blood other than his own. Nor were there any geth in the area."

"I see, indeed," answered Captain Anderson slowly. "Okay, what happened after that?"

"I fought my way towards the spaceport where Alenko was, through some light geth resistance. I found that Alenko had already disarmed the bombs set to destroy the colony and secured the beacon. Then when Alenko was talking to the Normandy, that woman moved into the beacon's field and was getting dragged towards the beacon. I pulled her out of the way, but got dragged in in my turn. I saw a few weird images, and was then knocked out."

"What did you see?"

For the first time, Shepard showed some hesitation, "Well – I may not have gotten them right. Remember, I was knocked out just afterwards."

"What did they seem like to you?" Captain Anderson's voice was gentle and encouraging.

"They were visions of war. Of monstrous machines massacring everything in their path. The ones being massacred had no chance – they were just desperate and helpless."

"What does all that mean?" wondered Anderson

Shepard spread his hands helplessly, "I've no idea at all."

"Well, Shepard, the Prothean beacon exploded after you got caught in its field. It's gone. We need to inform the Council about this." He continued unhappily, "This mission is a mess. We were supposed to have a simple job of retrieving a Prothean beacon. Instead, Eden Prime was almost destroyed by the geth. Nihlus is dead and the beacon is gone. God above, do we have a problem?"

He turned to Shepard and commanded, "Tell Joker to set a course to the Citadel." Shepard bowed and exited. After giving the instructions to Joker, he had returned to his cabin, and shut himself in. If anyone could have noticed him, they would have seen him seated cross-legged on his bed, deep in meditation, a swirling mass of blue energy surrounding his spare, active frame, his eyes focussed on something a million miles away.

-(Scene Break)-

Anderson and his crew were first brought before the human Ambassador, Donnell Udina, who berated Shepard for losing the beacon, and getting Nihlus killed. Shepard spoke nothing, not even in his defence, a job at which Anderson was more active than the commander himself. After that unpleasant episode, Alenko, Anderson and Shepard had been brought before the Council to testify to what they knew. In the meantime, the Council had investigated the charges against Saren via Citadel Security (C-Sec). Or at least, they claimed to have investigated him. In reality, there was nothing that anyone could have done to bring Saren to trial on the evidence that they had. While a solitary dockhand had claimed to have seen Nihlus recognise Saren before the latter had shot the former in cold blood, an asari matriarch, Benezia, had sworn that Saren was with her in Noveria during the time he was supposed to be raiding Eden Prime. With such an impeccable alibi, there was nothing they could do. Shepard had evinced no reaction during the entire trial, except on one occasion. His head had snapped up when he heard that Matriarch Benezia had vouched for Saren. But apart from that, the end of the inquiry was a foregone certainty. All allegations against Saren were dismissed, and the turian councillor had implied an censure against the Alliance for making false charges against a respected spectre.

They were all assembled in ambassador Udina's office, and the ambassador raved at Anderson and Shepard, "It was a mistake bringing you two into the Council. You, Anderson, have too much history with Saren. It made the Council question our motives. And you, Shepard, lost us the Prothean beacon you were sent to retrieve. The Council wouldn't be impressed with your incompetence!"

Shepard looked at the bureaucrat expressionlessly, but Alenko intervened diplomatically, "The Council won't help us. We need to find evidence against Saren ourselves."

"Right," said Udina. "So where do we start?"

"I would talk with Barla Von," answered Captain Anderson. "Rumour has it that he's a contact for the Shadow Broker. He might have some information on Saren."

"What about the C-Sec?" questioned Alenko. "They investigated our charges against Saren. Can we have their report or talk to the people who investigated Saren?"

"I've got a contact in C-Sec who can find out who was investigating Saren. His name's Harkin," returned Udina.

Anderson snorted, "Harkin's a loser, who got suspended for drinking on the job last month. I wouldn't waste my time with that loser!"

"You won't have to," returned Udina smoothly. "Anderson, I don't want the Council using your history with Saren to disregard everything we turn up. You're to stay out of this investigation entirely. Admiral Hackett's orders! Shepard, you're no longer one of the Alliance candidates for spectres. I had a talk with Admiral Hackett about this matter, and he agreed with me. You're being posted back to your old intelligence job, effective immediately. Alenko is the sole candidate now, and he will handle this matter about Saren completely from now on."

Anderson's face whitened in anger, but Shepard said nothing, his face expressionless. He spoke with no inflection, "Very well, Ambassador. In that case, I will leave you to your investigations. Good luck, Alenko" He included everyone in a sweeping bow, and stalked out of the room.

Half an hour later, Shepard had commandeered one of the secure channels in the human embassy on the Citadel and explained everything to his superior, Yehoshua Barzilai. The older man listened quietly to Shepard's narrative, and when Shepard had finished, queried, "So what do you plan to do now?"

"I plan to investigate on my own, sir," returned Shepard. "For that, I need two weeks leave of absence.:

"You have your leave," replied Yehoshua Barzilai. "But does that mean that you're going to go ahead, despite what Udina says?"

"Of course!"

The older man looked concerned, "Be careful, Shepard. Udina is a crafty and vindictive bastard. He can turn really nasty if he finds out what you're doing."

"I'll be careful, sir," returned Shepard calmly.

"Good luck, Shepard. And keep me informed of your progress."

"I will, sir!"

-(Scene Break)-

When Ashley Williams came out of the meeting with Ambassador Udina and Kaidan Alenko, she found Lt. Commander Shepard seated at a terminal, quietly typing messages.

She walked up to him, "Commander, I know it's my fault. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get the beacon destroyed."

Shepard replied quietly, not taking his eyes off the display, "Don't worry. I know. You had no way of knowing what would happen near the beacon."

She inquired rather timidly, "So – what're you going to do now?"

He looked up at her and smiled for the first time. It was a cold, mirthless smile, and it sent shivers all over Ashley's body. However, his voice was quiet as ever when he answered, "Call in some favours!"

**Author's Note:**

Okay – so, there you have the first of my changes. The change was that Kaidan runs into Ashley and rescues her, while Shepard gets Jenkins killed and stumbles into Nihlus' body. Also, Kaidan saved the colony, while Shepard ended up with the beacon blowing up in his face (even if he did so to save Ashley and he had no way of knowing that the beacon would blow up). This is going to lead to complications for Shepard, as you just saw. The thing I wanted to emphasise is that Shepard is just human and he can make mistakes as easily as the others. He should have been more cautious about those husks, and he definitely should not have let Jenkins lead, after the boy was in shock seeing his compatriots killed by the geth. Shepard made a mistake as a commander and Jenkins paid for it.

I deliberately did not use the word `husks' because it was the first time Shepard saw them and he had no idea what they were.

One of my reviewers remarked that Pvt. Sanders vanishes in the latter half of the chapter. He is not of much consequence, so he was not mentioned. He came out safe and sound, and his status is updated in the latest revision.


	3. First Inquiries

**The Candidate – 3**

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Mass Effect. All that belongs to Bioware and Drew Karpyshyn. I am just playing in their world.

**First Inquiries**

Shepard's first inquiry from the secure channel in the human embassy was to Captain Maeko Matsuo in Noveria. Noveria, Shepard knew from experience, was the one place in the Traverse, where nearly every corporate crime of any significance originated. It was the paradise of plotters and schemers of the highest calibre, where, shielded by the reluctance of the corporate friendly planetary administration to cooperate with law enforcement agencies of any stamp, they could sit in peace and meditate their crimes. Consequently, Shepard had built his up his own network in the planet and his network, particularly in the law enforcement agencies, was sound and reliable. Even in the hub of villainy that was Noveria, there were honest law enforcement officers, and they had a habit of communicating to their counterparts outside the planet through one corner of their mouths. While the information they conveyed was rarely admissible as evidence in a court of law, it gave investigators vital leads and breakthroughs. Therefore, it was to the formidable captain of security of Port Hanshan that Shepard appealed to for aid.

"Matsuo san, it is a pleasure to speak to you once more," breathed Shepard as his holo greeted the chief of security of Port Hanshan.

"Shepard san", returned the captain of security warmly. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"A matter of an alibi," returned Shepard coming quickly to the point of the discussion. "A spectre Saren and an asari matriarch, Benezia, were supposed to have been in Noveria at the time of the attack on Eden Prime. This asari matriarch has vouched for Saren. I need you to verify it."

"We verified it for C-Sec. Both of them came on a vessel, _ASL Ithaki, _that docked here eight hours before the attack on Eden Prime."

As a highly capable intelligence officer, Shepard was very familiar with the immigration procedures of the most infamous planet in the Attican Traverse. He was also intimately familiar with the most usual methods to falsify the time of arrival. Consequently, he questioned, "What all did you verify?"

"We checked the name of the ship, and the time of arrival here at Port Hanshan. They match, and their entries in the immigration list have the corresponding correct timestamp."

Immediately Shepard requested, "Can you please verify if the signature of the immigration officer on the counterfoil of their immigration entries matches that of an immigration officer on duty at that time? Even if they both went through a diplomatic channel, there should be an immigration entry counterfoil, duly countersigned by a Port Hanshan official."

"Excuse me?"

Shepard explained patiently, "Matsuo san – if I wanted to falsify my time of arrival, I would change the name of the vessel I arrived in, along with the time of my entry in the immigration lists. Given Saren's spectre status, it would be easy for him to change, and that is all he would be likely to bother to change. After all, the official immigration entry is the only legally admissible evidence. However, what is rarely changed, what is indeed much more difficult to change is, the signature of the immigration officer who signs on the counterfoil. As there is no timestamp on the counterfoil, it is not admissible evidence. Nevertheless, it is something that has often given us important indications whether the immigration entry is faked, because, even if the time of entry has been faked, it is hard to alter the signature on the counterfoil to the signature of an immigration official on duty at the time of the supposed entry. More often than not, it is the signature of an official who was on duty later!"

Maeko Matsuo digested what the intelligence officer had noticed. "Very well, Shepard san. I will check this for you."

"Thank you," returned Shepard. "That will be very helpful."

-(Scene Break)-

Three hours later, Captain Matsuo called him at the human embassy. Shepard answered her call immediately and the security chief of Port Hanshan greeted him warmly, "Shepard san, I have some news about your inquiry."

Shepard waved to her to continue, and she proceeded, "As you know, official records state that both Matriarch Benezia and Spectre Saren arrived in Noveria eight hours before the attack on Eden Prime and did not leave the planet since then. We checked the timestamps and the name of the ship on the entries and they match the time they are supposed to have entered. However, your suspicion was correct, Shepard san; the signatures on the counterfoils of their immigration entries don't match with the signature of the immigration clerks who were on duty at the time they are supposed to have entered."

"Whose signature do they match?"

"That of a woman who was on duty starting from twelve hours after the attack."

Shepard nodded. "Thanks, Matsuo san. Has this woman been questioned?"

"No, Shepard san. That would raise too many suspicions, and I have no authority to bring in the woman for questioning." Shepard nodded in understanding. There were limits to cooperation in the old boy network.

"Where are Saren and Benezia now?" inquired Shepard.

"Saren left Noveria thirty six hours after the attack on his private ship to an unknown destination. Benezia is still in Noveria, at the Binary Helix facilities at Peak 15 in the Skadi mountains."

Shepard nodded, "Thank you, Matsuo san. You have been a great help." With that, the duo parted, wishing each other goodbye.

Shepard sat down to consider what that meant to his investigation. He had been suspicious of the cast-iron, dyed-in-the-wool alibi produced by Saren. To Shepard, who was well aware of the nuances of criminal investigation, an ironclad alibi signalled one of the two things – a genuine coincidence that had managed to give the suspect a clear alibi, or else, as was usually the case, a fake one prepared before hand. Shepard usually preferred to see a more nebulous alibi – to him, it signalled, more often than not, the alibi of a person who did not know he would be called upon to establish one. Now Shepard had established, in his own mind, that Saren had lied, and was most probably tied to the attack on Eden Prime. But what frightened him far more was the involvement of Benezia in helping Saren falsifying his alibi.

Shepard could even understand Saren's motives and actions to an extent – Saren was known to despise humans. He saw them as a threat, their pushy, grasping natures as dangerous to the stability of the galaxy that he had conceived in his mind. He might well attack a human colony and try to destroy it after extracting the knowledge contained in the Prothean beacon. But Benezia? His mind went back to the fabulous receptions hosted by the most eminent diplomat of Armali to persuade humanity of the pacific intentions of the Council, a known friend of humans, and one of the few asari who had strongly spoken on integrating humanity into the wider galactic community in the wake of the First Contact War. Benezia had even touched Shepard's own life indirectly – when it had become known to the eminent Armali diplomat that William Shepard was looking for an asari to tutor his son in the use of his biotics, she had helped him find one who would teach a human. Was her peaceful intent a lie? Was she truly conspiring against humans? What could possibly motivate this woman to invade, or aid in invading Eden Prime? The Prothean beacon? Shepard shook his head – humanity was willing to hand it over to the Council as proof of its goodwill. Matriarch Benezia could have had access to that beacon merely by asking for it. It did not make sense. There was more, Shepard decided, to this matter than appeared on surface. It was time to make more inquiries.

-(Scene Break)-

Matron Irissa had received a courtesy call from her old student, Johann Shepard, and was very happy to see him again, after several years. Matron Irissa had a great deal of respect for the human, who had absorbed everything she had to teach, and hungered for more. At first, when Matriarch Benezia had asked her to teach a human, she had been very hesitant. But the matriarch had prevailed upon her to go to earth and teach the human, who, Benezia had assured her, likely held much potential. The human had justified the matriarch's judgement, and from the first, Irissa had got along well with her student. It had been a challenge to teach a human student, precisely because human biotics were very different from asari biotics. Humans were markedly weaker biotically, and it had taxed matron Irissa's skills and knowledge to come up with a regimen of exercises that challenged her student's powers and conditioned his mind, without burning out his implants. And her student had responded superbly to her teaching, developing, with her guidance, a strategy and framework for using his biotics. Recognising his weakness in power, Shepard, with the asari matron's guidance, had built up speed and endurance to make up for the lack of power. And by the end of the training, Matron Irissa had been pleased and proud of how her student had turned out.

Now, the hologram of her old student had appeared on her vid-comm. After exchanging some general courtesies, Shepard casually inquired her. "Matron Irissa, how is Matriarch Benezia?"

"No idea," returned Irissa. "She left Armali several months ago, with several of her students. No one knows where she's gone."

"I would have thought that Armali wouldn't let the matriarch go away so easily," returned Shepard in apparent surprise. "I mean – she is the best diplomat that Armali has had. She's probably won more contracts and trade agreements for Armali with her diplomacy, than anyone else."

"They weren't happy," agreed Matron Irissa. "Many begged her to remain, but the matriarch wouldn't agree. She resigned her position as Councillor, and left."

"Why in the goddess' name did she resign?" Shepard did not have to feign his surprise for this. Asari matriarchs did not disarrange their lives over trifles. Asari were blessed with infinite patience, and even if there had been disagreements with other Councillors, Benezia would not quit Armali altogether, unless it was something pressing.

"Again, I have no idea at all Johann. It was all so sudden, you know. One fine day, she just left Armali with many of her students." The asari matron continued, "It's so sad, you know. Her manor is empty, now that Benezia is gone, and her daughter Liara never comes home."

Shepard had done some research on the matriarch and her family, and knew that the daughter, Liara T'Soni was a Prothean archaeologist. Shepard nodded in sympathy, "Is Liara still off studying Protheans?"

"Yes," nodded Matron Irissa. "She got a grant from the University of Serrice, and went off to some Prothean dig site."

After that, the two spoke of some inconsequential things, and then Shepard signed off.

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard checked his watch, and a bit of checking on the extranet convinced him that it was impossible for him to reach anyone in the university of Serrice for the day as it would be late in the evening in Serrice. Rising from his terminal, Shepard strolled leisurely through the docks. He bought some basic necessities, and booked himself in a small hotel. Twice during his shopping expedition, he stopped and looked intently in the shopping windows. However, he gave no other sign of discomfiture or alarm and he hired a skycar, and drove to his hotel, late in the evening, having dined at a restaurant on the way.

Having returned to his hotel, Shepard went up to his room. He had been followed the entire day, after leaving the human embassy – he was perfectly certain about that, even if more than one shadow had been used. Knowing he was being followed, he, consequently, had used very secure channels, routing his transmissions through secure Alliance protocols, to communicate with both Captain Matsuo and Matron Irissa, to avoid compromising either of them. He considered who could be interested in him. Could it be one of the Alliance? It was unlikely – his plans were unknown to anyone in the Alliance and the brass knew that he was innocent in the destruction of the Prothean beacon business. Could it be one of the C-Sec people, who had been investigating into Saren? That too was unlikely considering that the investigation was over, and everything had been swept under the carpet. Could it be the Council trying to find out what he knew? This was more possible as a motive, but his tails had not been professionals. In fact, the trained officer in Shepard had been repulsed by the crassness of his shadows. If someone sent by the Council had been trying to shadow him, they would not have been so obvious to a trained intelligence officer. After all, the Council's spies were also trained agents themselves, and there were many ways of keeping tabs on him, without being so obvious about it for the Council. Finally, if the Council wanted to know what he knew about the attack or the beacon, they would only have to summon him. Shepard had an excellent record of cooperating with other species. No – there remained only one possibility, and that possibility was Saren. And that was something that intrigued Shepard.

Shepard had been surprised by some of Saren's actions in Eden Prime. The turian spectre had not bothered to take the Prothean beacon with him. Instead, after reaching the beacon and presumably using it, he had tried to destroy the colony, along with the beacon. What was the reason for trying to destroy the beacon? The only reason that Shepard could think was that the turian had come in contact with it and secured all the knowledge that he needed from it, and the beacon was of no more use to him. In such a case, the spectre would be anxious that no one else share the knowledge contained in the beacon. But Shepard had come in contact with the beacon, and Saren would be worried what he had learnt from it. That opened a less than pleasing field of speculation for the intelligence officer, since Saren's interest in him boded ill for him. He grimly nodded to himself. He would have to remain on his guard, and would have to watch his own back all the time from that moment.

It was fortunate for Shepard that he was on his guard that night. One of Shepard's favourite ways of throwing his enemies plans off gear was to vary his own routine, so that they would be forced to cope with his irregularities. Consequently, that night, he had switched off the lights, but had yet gone to bed although it was well past midnight. He was sitting on the floor cross legged, meditating to bring his nerves some relief. More importantly, as a biotic, it was necessary for him to keep his nerves calm, if he was to avoid splitting headaches.

During the meditations, he was alarmed when there was a soft buzz as a key card was pressed against the card reader on his door, and the door unlocked with a small click. Shepard moved with alacrity, his bare feet making no noise at all on the soft carpeted floor as he slid into a defensive position two feet from the hinged end of the door, picking up his pistol from his dressing table as he did so. For half a minute, there was no noise as the person outside listened intently to see if the person inside had been awakened. The door handle depressed with almost millimetric stealth, then slowly returned to position as the door, very very smoothly and gently, began to open. The gap between the door and jamb widened until it was about ten inches. Momentarily, the door ceased to move. A head began to poke its way cautiously through the gap. The intruder was a turian, as was evidenced from the features. When the intruder had thrust his head sufficiently forward, Shepard leaned back on his left leg, raised his right leg and smashed the heel of his right foot against the door, just below the door handle with every atom of strength that he could muster. There was a muffled half-cough, half-scream of agony as the edge of the door smashed into the turian's face with the full force of Shepard's kick. Shepard grabbed the man by his horns, and flanges, and brutally dragged him into the room, slamming the door shut behind with his foot, even as the turian tumbled into the room. Both hands, the right still clutching a shotgun with a silencer at the end, were clasped to the blood-masked shattered middle of his face. The nose was certainly broken; what had happened to mandibles, cheekbones and teeth were, at the moment, a matter for the most idle conjecture.

It certainly didn't concern Shepard. His face was entirely without pity. He swung his pistol, none too lightly, and brought it down above the intruder s right ear, just below the horns. Moaning, the man sank to his knees. Shepard took the shotgun from an unresisting hand and ran his free band over the turian's body. At his belt he discovered a sheath knife, which he withdrew. It was six inches long, double-edged, needle-pointed and razor-sharp. Shepard grabbed the moaning turian by his mandibles and horns, and pulled him ruthlessly to his feet. Equally ruthlessly, he smashed his pistol once more against the turian's other side of the face. Moaning, the turian went down, held up only the painful grip the human held on his mandibles and horn. Shepard let go of the turian, and he collapsed on the floor. "Face down, and hands where I can see them!" commanded Shepard. The turian complied with alacrity, terrified by this human who seemed to have no problems with putting a bullet in him if need be.

-(Scene Break)-

Fifteen minutes later, Inspector Chellick had driven to the hotel from where Shepard had called C-Sec, along with a turian sergeant in tow.

Shepard was standing over his prisoner, pistol in hand. When the C-Sec men entered, he spoke calmly, "I wish to lodge a complaint against this man."

Chellick saw the broken turian in a state of complete collapse, lying bleeding on the carpet, and the pistol holding Shepard, with his cold mien, and mildly remarked, "It seems more to me that he should be lodging a complaint against you."

Shepard quietly produced his own identification, apart from the trespassing turian's false door card, and shotgun and knife, "He came calling on me in the middle watches of the night."

But the turian sergeant touched his superior on the arm, "Sir, it's our old friend, Tarsus. Difficult to recognise him though, under all the blood."

Shepard returned mildly, "I am sorry to say that there was some violence."

Chellick answered, "Apologies are quite out of order. Tarsus should be beaten up regularly, preferably once a week. But this one should last him a couple of months. You will press charges against him, of course?"

"Certainly," answered Shepard. "By the way, his paraphernalia is that of an assassin. I don't think he came of his own accord. I should like to find out who sent him."

Chellick nodded with a grim faced thoughtfulness that boded ill for Tarsus. "I think that can be arranged, Commander Shepard."

-(Scene Break)-

With the attempt on his life the previous night, Shepard had no more illusions. He was operating in deep waters, and would have to watch his every step. However, the attempt on his life had demonstrated one important factor – his enemies were desperate to silence him, and consequently, the longer he survived, the more desperate his enemies would become. And desperation was often the harbinger of mistakes, mistakes that he could exploit.

Shepard's first call that day was to the university of Serrice from a public extranet terminal. He spoke to the head of the department of archaeology, Prof. Aelia Amun, indicating his interest in speaking with Dr. Liara T'Soni. The asari was little impressed with Liara. When Prof. Amun asked him why he wished to speak to Liara, he frankly told her, "I wish, ma'am, to speak to her about the beacon that was destroyed on Eden Prime."

"Commander Shepard, we could help you far more if you were to tell us what you experienced. Better still, if you came here ...", began the asari professor eagerly, when she learnt that Shepard had used the beacon before it exploded. Her professional interest was piqued, and she wanted to examine Shepard carefully.

Shepard gently interrupted, "Thank you, ma'am. Perhaps I shall avail myself of your gracious offer some other time. But for now, I would be grateful to you if you could tell me where to find Dr. T'Soni, for I believe what I saw is connected to some of the theories she propounded a few years ago." The latter part of Shepard's statement was a blatant lie. Shepard did not have the slightest clue about Liara's theories, or any other Prothean theories, for that matter. But his lie was a plausible one, and one which the asari professor could not easily refute at least.

Giving up the matter as a lost case, the asari professor huffed angrily, "What is it with Liara and her theories? Not an hour ago, another person wanted to speak with Liara about her theories. And now you wish to discuss the Prothean beacon with her?"

Shepard returned with apparent indifference, although underneath he was deeply unsettled. Who was interested in Liara and for what reason? He would need to find out fast. He spoke outwardly, "I am afraid I cannot speak for any others who may be interested in Dr. T'Soni's theories or whereabouts. My interest, I have explained. I would be grateful if you could provide me with a means to contact her."

"She is on Therum," the asari professor all but growled. "She is working all alone on a dig in Caleston. No one was silly enough to accept her theories, so she is alone in that out of the way place!" added the professor spitefully. "You'll find her there!"

"Thank you, ma'am," returned Shepard politely as he cut the connection.

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard emerged from the extranet terminal with one strong conviction. He had to get to this Liara fast, or he would never get his hands on her. Someone was already looking for her, and given her links to Benezia, would soon make her unavailable to him, one way or another. A cold smile played on his lips, as he considered the possibility of killing two birds with one stone. That would work perfectly. As he stepped out of the terminal, he nearly ran into a quarian woman. She hailed him, "Commander Shepard, can I speak with you, please?"

Shepard was nothing if not unfailingly polite. He invited the quarian to a restaurant with him, and pressed refreshments on her. She explained her interest in him. Her name was Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, and she was on her pilgrimage. When she had heard that geth had attacked Eden Prime, and Commander Shepard had been on the team that had repelled the geth attack, she was naturally intrigued.

Shepard nodded, "Aye, there were dozens of geth, Ms. Rayya. Unfortunately, we couldn't learn much from them. Geth don't surrender, and they fry their memory cores when they die."

"Please call me Tali," returned the quarian girl. "But yes, it's hard to recover geth memories." She sighed, "I wish I had been there!"

"Most people would wish to be as far away from the geth as possible, Tali," smiled Shepard.

"No – I wish I had been there when the geth were killed. It is possible to recover caches of memory if you are fast and lucky. I could have recovered some data at least."

An idea struck Shepard. Given that Saren had employed geth in the past, it might be useful to keep someone who could recover geth data from their memories. Therefore, he handed her his real identification – the one which showed him as an Alliance Naval Intelligence officer, and suggested quietly, "Well, Tali, I am going up against an enemy who has some kind of understanding with the geth. Would you like to come with me? I won't lie to you. It will be very dangerous. But I would be grateful to you for any geth data you can recover – the Alliance requires it desperately. You are welcome to any and all other geth technology we recover in the bargain!"

Tali nodded eagerly, "That would be great, Shepard!"

-(Author's Notes)-

Okay, now you are beginning to see the difference my Shepard has with the canon/most fanon Shepards. My Shepard is a character who, having worked in the intelligence for long enough, knows how the system works, and consequently, also knows how to beat it, and most importantly, spot it when the system has been broken by others.

Also, he is himself a schemer and planner of no small merit. It is going to come out more strongly in the next few chapters.


	4. Live Bait

**The Candidate – 4**

D**isclaimer:**I don't own the ME universe. It belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware. I am just playing in their world. As usual, all criticism is welcome.

**Live Bait**

Shepard then spent the next couple of hours in the extranet terminal looking up maps of Caleston, and while Tali busied herself with checking the charter ship services in the Citadel. Having completed the tasks, Shepard returned to the human embassy with Tali in tow. Here, he was confronted by an angry Udina, and a coldly disapproving Captain Anderson. Udina began his attack, "Commander Shepard, can you please explain your actions since you were ordered to return to your old position?"

Shepard replied coldly, "Yesterday, I spoke to Adm. Yehoshua Barzilai, telling him of the events here. Then I spoke to a couple of friends, shopped for a bit in the evening, and stayed at a hotel nearby last night. Then I visited an extranet terminal today and have been speaking with this young lady since." He gestured at Tali. "May I introduce you to Ms. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya?"

Udina simply ignored the Quarian. Indeed, if anything, Shepard's answer seemed to make the Ambassador's anger even greater. "Why are you on the Citadel yet? Why aren't you at your new post?"

If Udina had turned angrier, Shepard was turning colder. His voice was positively dripping ice now "I am on leave, for two weeks, starting yesterday. My leave was confirmed by Adm. Barzilai."

"Shepard, we don't need you to create a diplomatic incident here!"

"I fail to see how I am creating one, Ambassador," returned Shepard. "I am merely on holiday here."

Anderson broke in at this point, his voice soft and firm, "Commander, we ordered you to stop investigating this case. It seems that you are ignoring that order."

"First, I am holiday, so I am free to do what I wish. Secondly, any order regarding my activities must come from my superior, Adm. Barzilai, I am afraid, Captain," replied Shepard coolly.

Udina was now red as a beet with fury, "Shepard, as Ambassador, I oversee Alliance interests in the Citadel, and I cannot allow you to jeopardise them! I order you to cease your investigations immediately, and turn over all the material you have uncovered to us at once!"

"What makes you think that I am investigating anything at all?" Shepard's voice was disdainful.

"Do you play us for fools?" growled Udina "You were calling Noveria and someone on Thessia on the embassy's encrypted channels yesterday! You also beat up a Turian last night! What did you learn from him?"

"Firstly, I did not beat him up," replied Shepard. "He came into my room last night, with the intent of either robbery or assassination. I merely defended myself and handed him over to C-Sec. I also learned nothing from him. C-Sec might know of his intentions more."

Captain Anderson, once more, spoke with his habitual calmness. "Shepard, if you want, I can get you the order from Yehoshua Barzilai. But take my advice and leave the Citadel, leaving this investigation to Alenko and the Ambassador!"

Shepard, however, stuck to his demand, "Let me hear Adm. Barzilai's wishes, and I will comply with them."

-(Scene Break)-

Ten minutes later, Anderson had spoken to Adm. Barzilai and invited the commander to follow him into the briefing room in the human embassy. Shepard, bidding Tali wait for him, followed the captain and the Ambassador, where the hologram of his superior awaited him. Shepard turned to other two, and requested, "Perhaps you would be kind enough to give me and the admiral some privacy, sirs …?"

Udina looked like a child that had just been cheated out of some excellent entertainment, but Captain Anderson beckoned the Ambassador, and the two left the room. Barzilai waited until the duo had left, and then admonished his subordinate, "Johann, I told you to be careful and not annoy Udina!"

"It doesn't matter now, sir," returned Shepard calmly. "My investigations in the Citadel are finished for the time being. I have located Matriarch's daughter. I think she is an important factor here."

"Johann, I don't think you understand!" growled Barzilai. "I can't hold off pressure like this from people like Udina and Anderson. The Alliance isn't pleased with you ignoring their orders, hiding behind technicalities!"

"No, sir, I think it is you who don't understand," returned Shepard quietly. "I cannot leave this investigation, even if I wanted to."

"Just what do you mean by that?" frowned Yehoshua Barzilai.

Consequently, Shepard explained everything he had discovered, how the alibi been faked, how the matriarch had suspiciously disappeared from Thessia, the attempt on his life the previous night, and how he had found the daughter. He finished, "Whoever it was that attempted to take my life last night isn't going to lay off, sir. I'll be safe only when I lay this Saren by the heels!"

Yehoshua Barzilai did not seem convinced. He inquired, "Why would Saren come after you? What makes you so dangerous to him?"

Shepard answered readily, "I was the only one in contact with the Prothean beacon, sir. I think he fears that I might learn what the message meant. He wants no one else to figure out what the beacon contained. That's why he wanted to destroy the beacon, along with the colony."

Barzilai frowned, "That assassination attempt could be a coincidence, Johann! In any case, you've got to abide by the orders of the Alliance! Return to Arcturus station immediately! This way you will also be safer. If this Saren sees you return to your old job, he will see you as less of a threat, since you are not doing anything against him."

"I am sorry, sir, but I cannot do that!" responded Shepard respectfully, but firmly.

Barzilai looked angry, but there was a hint of curiosity in his voice, "Shepard, just why are you being so stubborn? You've been taken off cases before – we all have. What makes this one unique?"

Shepard reminded the admiral, "Plenty of people died in Eden Prime, sir. One of my own subordinates died, sir. The colony was nearly blown to pieces. I owe it to them to discover the truth."

Barzilai stared at his subordinate for a long moment. "You're telling me the truth, but not the complete truth. People have died before, Johann, in cases you have handled, and you have been moved from one assignment to another. Also, Alenko and the Ambassador are handling this job. One would think there was something personal in this for you."

"Perhaps there is," answered Shepard quietly.

"Never let things get personal, Johann!" snapped Yehoshua Barzilai. "Never! Have I taught you nothing? This business is not for people who have personal axes to grind. Get back here now!"

"Is that an order, Admiral?" Shepard was disappointed, and his voice was arctic.

"Yes, that is an order." rasped Barzilai.

"In that case, consider this my resignation from my commission, sir."

"Excuse me?" Barzilai was now flabbergasted, puzzled and offended by his subordinate's obstinacy.

"Yes, sir. I wish to resign my commission."

This threw the admiral into a full surprise. "You mean you're going to throw away everything you've worked for for the last five years over this investigation?"

"If that is what it takes, yes, sir."

Barzilai's voice was earnest and worried now. "Listen, Johann. This is too big for you to handle alone. Saren has been screwing the Alliance for the past twenty years, and no one has been able to do a damned thing about it. Everything we've tried has come to a sticky end. Don't go throwing your life and career away on a whim! What, in God's name, is this case to you, in the end?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot simply quit now."

"Listen, Johann, you've got a splendid career ahead of you. You're our finest operative. In twenty years time, you'll be sitting in my chair. Is this case worth sacrificing all you are, all you could be?"

"Yes, sir. It is worth sacrificing everything, including my career in the Alliance, if it comes to that."

Barzilai leaned back in his chair and gazed in unadulterated surprise at the unsmiling lieutenant commander. "Assuming that I accept your resignation, what do you propose to do?"

"I propose to go down to Caleston, and find this asari girl."

"So you're going to continue with your investigation, no matter what I say?"

"Yes, sir."

"Fine, then!" snarled Barzilai. "Go to hell!"

"I shall begin with Caleston," returned Shepard calmly. "Good afternoon, sir!"

Shepard cut the connection, but the others outside had not heard that he had finished the call. Before he quit the embassy, he made another call on the embassy's securely encrypted connection. The hologram of a tall and slender man answered his call.

"Привет, Константин Ефимович." _(Hello, Konstantin Efimovich)_

"Привет, Йохан." (_Hello, Johann) _answered the man in genuine pleasure at seeing the commander.

Shepard recited quietly, beginning their watchphrase

"Как ныне сбирается вещий Олег  
>Отмстить неразумным хозарам"<p>

His interlocutor smiled as he completed the stanza of the poem

"Их сёла и нивы за буйный набег  
>Обрёк он мечам и пожарам;<br>С дружиной своей, в цареградской броне,  
>Князь по полю едет на верном коне" [1]<p>

Shepard nodded, "Хорощо. Теперь, Я хочу ..." _(Good. Now, I want ….)_. Now he had slipped into rapid, fluent and idiomatic Russian, and he rattled off instructions swiftly. The man listened until Shepard had finished.

"Да, они будут в Калистоне завтра!" _(Yes, they'll be in Caliston tomorrow.)_

"Хорощо! Спасибо!" _(Good! Thanks!)_

With that, Shepard cut the call.

When he emerged into the anteroom from his conference with his superior, he was as composed as ever. Udina was smirking with undisguised triumph, while Anderson looked worried. Shepard bowed to both and announced quietly, "I shall leave the Citadel in a couple of hours, sirs!"

Udina's face was filled with pride and gloating. It was almost as if he was savouring the sweet taste of victory over an unseemly and meddlesome underling, who had been put in place. However, Captain Anderson simply nodded, his eyes distant and grave.

Shepard beckoned to Tali, and she followed him out of the embassy.

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard had chartered a small vessel that would take both him and Tali to Caleston, on the planet Therum. While the ship was being prepared, Shepard spread a map of Caleston in front of Tali. "This", he pointed out, "is Caleston." He pointed to a large area several miles north of the town,, "This is the Prothean dig site. Apparently, it is several thousand hectares in area. We will need to find Dr. T'Soni in this ruin."

"That's going to be a big search, Shepard. Can't we just go to her home?"

"I checked with my people in Caleston," answered Shepard, with a sigh. "Apparently, she lives in the ruin itself, in some kind of portable tent, with a sleeping bag. She comes to town for supplies only once a couple of weeks or so."

"So what do we do now?"

"I've made arrangements for us to obtain a rover. We can drive to the ruins and begin our search.

He reached down into his luggage, and drew out a Quarian armour and helmet. Handing it to the Quarian girl, he told her. "Wear this at all times, Tali. It would be safer for you."

The Quarian stared at the armour in surprise. No one outside the Flotilla thus far had ever bothered to care about her well being, let alone spend for it. And here was this human taking enough trouble to make sure that she was safe. She looked uncertainly at the armour and Shepard, before blurting out, "Safer? What do you mean?"

"Someone else is looking for this Asari researcher," answered Shepard heavily. "Therefore, it is wise to be prepared for trouble."

"Trouble? What sort of trouble?" Tali asked anxiously. It was hard to make out under her suit, but Shepard could almost swear that Tali's face was frowning.

"Who knows? If we knew what kind of trouble we would meet, it would not be trouble at all." smiled Shepard wearily.

-(Scene Break)-

The next day, the Human and the Quarian took a shuttle down to Caleston port, and went into the town. They didn't bother to stay for long. Only long enough to rent a rover and to purchase some basic supplies. "Why don't you drive Tali? I'll make sure we're not bothered." Shepard suggested.

Tali looked at her human companion for a few moments, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. In the end she agreed and made herself comfortable in the driver's seat, activated the engines and began driving north.

Once they were roughly three miles away from the local town, Tali and Shepard saw two rovers waiting for them in the distance. Before they could do anything, the two rovers had moved behind and before their own vehicle in an effort to cut them off.

Shepard glanced at them and tried to use the rover's radio system to broadcast a distress signal only to realize that something was jamming his signal. Shepard didn't hesitate for long and grabbed a Very pistol (2) from his shoulder bag and promptly fired a red flare into the air.

"What're you doing?" Tali demanded. She was on the verge of a panic attack and only her own confidence in keep control over the rover prevented her from going over the edge. She sent the rover into a wrenching turn to the left.

"Help is on its way, Tali. We just have to survive until then." Shepard reassured her.

"What?" The Quarian girl cried out over the noise of the engine.

"I'll explain later." Shepard told her calmly. "just concentrate on your driving." Shepard had already drawn a pistol from his shoulder holster and was preparing himself to take the first opportunity to take down their pursuers. Even with his experience as a military man he knew that it wouldn't be an easy shot. Considering the sharp turns and the rough terrain their rover was traversing.

Their attackers had chosen their ambush point well. Shepard and and Tali were forced towards a small hill, where the rough terrain would force them to slow down. It would give their enemy a clear advantage considering their superior numbers.

The engines of the three rovers howled as they were strained to their maximum while they were racing towards the hill. The two rovers were slowly catching up, forcing Tali to crouch as low as she could while still keep proper control over her own vehicle. Powerful sniper shots were bouncing of the chassis of their vehicle.

A shot passed clearly from one side to the other, shattering windows in its wake. Another bounced off Shepard's biotic barrier, forcing him to reinforce it even when he was slowly nearing his limit. Shepard managed to get it going though because he knew that his enemies were getting closer.

Just as they reached the hill, Tali got her first glance of their opponents, who had reduced the distance between their cars to almost half of what it once was. The first was being driven by a Turian, and behind him, crouched three sinister figures, clutching pulse rifles

"They are Geth!" Tali shouted. She could almost swear that there had been a flash of satisfaction on the face of Shepard. But the next instant, it was gone. His biotic barrier flared over both of them, deflecting the first burst of fire from the Geth pulse rifles. Shepard's barrier buckled and swayed, but did not break at the first volley, but it was obvious that they would soon be overwhelmed, if they could not keep out of the enemies' range.

Tali hit two buttons on the drivers' panel, throwing the rover into a full slide sideways, wheels locked, at a breakneck pace, and out of the line of fire of the next volley from the Geth in the rover. The pneumatic brakes screeched and the engine shrieked in protest as Tali straightened the rover, and once more, whipped it to the left.

It was then that she saw the occupants of the second rover, which had closed in during the time she had tried to evade the first and was now less than thirty yards to their left. The sight of the occupants of the rover sent a shiver of terror down her spine. There was a Turian driving, but beside him were two hulking creatures that few had seen. The first was a huge Geth, a creature of nightmares, with a gleaming steel grey body, a yellow stripe running down its armour and a intensely blue flashing light at its face. It also carried a pulse shotgun, instead of a rifle. Beside it, was another she had never hoped to see – a Krogan of gigantic proportions, a behemoth that was carrying a shotgun of matching proportions.

From the glance she stole of Shepard's face, he was perturbed as well. His lips tightened, but otherwise he evinced no other reaction, as both the Krogan and the Geth fired at them with their shotguns. Shepard's biotic barrier flared once more into life, but Tali feared that he would not be able to block the attack this time. Her fears were warranted, but Shepard had played a careful game. His biotic barrier winked out of existence just as the shots collided with it. Tali realised that he had not tried so much to block the enemy attacks as to deflect them. In this he was successful, and both shots flew over their rover. Nevertheless, the effect for the human was fairly severe. He was tossed across the rover like a rag doll, and his shoulder hit the chassis on the opposite with stunning force. Shepard hissed in pain, blood streaming down his nose from the effort it had cost him to deflect the attack biotically as, nevertheless, he struggled back up, and gave her an encouraging smile, when another distraction came, this time from a different source.

She heard a resounding explosion, and just as she snapped her head round to discover the source, she saw that the first rover that had been following them had been blown up along with its occupants, and had vanished in a ball of flame. An intense white brightness and terrifying heat emanated from the curiously smokeless wreckage's blaze, doubtless due to the magnesium alloys in the chassis, that now formed a macabre funeral pyre for both organics and synthetics. Overhead, she saw a Mantis gunship circling lazily in the air, its powerful rocket launcher still belching smoke from the projectile that it had just fired.

Their other opponents seemed to realise that they had been outmanoeuvred and were now out gunned, and immediately, turned tail. However, the gunship was having none of it. It was rapidly closing on the other rover. Shepard placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered sharply to Tali, "Follow that rover, Tali. We need to get that Geth."

"What?"

"We need the data from the Geth. It is doubtful that we can make that Krogan speak, but that Geth is a promising source of intelligence! Follow it ."

Tali nodded and gunned the engines, and the tables had turned now. The pursuers were now the pursued, the biters bit, the hunters hunted. Another shot, the hard crack of a sniper rifle shot, rang out from the gunship, and the Turian who was driving the second car, simply slumped forward in his seat, his head now a bloody mess, dead before his chin had hit the drivers' panel. The rover he was driving careered out of control. The Krogan pushed the dead Turian out of the way, and tried to regain control, but it was too late. The rover had wildly slid out of control and smashed into the side of a small knoll. Spinning several times, the engine still whining wildly, it collapsed half upturned on the ground, coming to a dead halt. Tali gracefully brought their own rover to a halt about thirty yards from the debris of the stricken car. Both Shepard and Tali jumped out, and Shepard held out a hand, restraining the young Quarian from going in too close. Overhead, the gunship was hovering almost still and a huge Krogan jumped out of it, landing on the ground in a paratrooper's roll. He came up smoothly, and growled, "Shepard."

"Wrex", nodded Shepard. Before the commander could speak further, the debris of the broken rover shifted and two figures emerged out of it. Both were singed and battered, but looked little the worse for wear. The Krogan was in front, and he moved with what seemed to be diabolic speed to Tali. He whipped out his huge Claymore shotgun, and fired at the newly arrived Krogan, but Wrex had already rolled out of the way, lashing out at his enemy with his own biotics. Behind the Krogan, the large Geth emerged, but Shepard was ready for this. His omni-tool flashed and the Geth's weapon merely clicked dryly as it overheated and the safety catch engaged, making it impossible for the Geth to use its weapon. The Geth did not lose its head, however. Flinging the weapon down, it rushed its enemy. Tali and Shepard, however, were both prepared for the Geth, and their omni-tools flashed almost in unison. The Geth's shielding simply disintegrated, and it went staggering back. Shepard reached inside his tunic, and brought out a small ball. Unhesitatingly, he armed it and flung it on the Geth. The grenade contained not the conventional explosive, but a cryo explosive that emitted a small amount Bose-Einstein condensate, a mass of super-cooled subatomic particles that snap froze the staggering Geth. Shepard rasped out, "Tali, try to get into its memory banks! I'll keep it occupied." Even as he spoke, his omni-tool was working furiously, as he was hammering the fallen Geth with an immense amount of Gaussian white noise, and overloading its sensors with false data, while Tali got a chance at invading the memory banks.

The young Quarian wasted no time. Activating her own omni tool, she used a powerful decryption algorithm that she had seen working against the Geth, and broke into its memory banks. However, in a few moments, the Geth, which was quite powerful, had shaken off the effects of both the cryo explosive and Shepard's overloading algorithms, and it rose again, charging the human blindly. Shepard flung himself backwards just as the Geth reached him, while lashing out with his biotics, lifting it off the ground, using its own momentum against it to send it sailing helplessly over his own body and smashing into the ground, a dozen paces from him. However, the Geth had taken a lot of damage in the battle, and its self destruct protocols began activating. Shepard once more tried snap freezing the Geth enemy, and hacking it to run dummy processes, delaying the self destruct, but that too was overcome in less than a minute. The self destruct protocol activated, its memory core was frazzled in a blast of electricity, and it collapsed limply, like a puppet with the strings cut.

In the meantime, the duel between the two Krogan was proceeding apace. Wrex and the other Krogan had both fired their shotguns, both had breached each others' kinetic barriers in the armour but little else, both had thrown away their shotguns, since they had no time to reload, and both were battering each other with their fists and biotics.

Battlemaster Onerk – for this, Shepard would find out from Wrex, was the other Krogan's name – had fought innumerable battles, but for the first time, he was not really making an impression on his enemy. Rather, the impression was being made on him. His strength was being worn down, his biotics outmatched, and he was being steadily forced back. Gathering all his strength, he lowered his head and charged, intending to head butt his enemy and knock him off balance, but Wrex rushed forward grabbing his enemy's neck in his own powerful hands, kicking out for the other's knee. Onerk lost his balance and fell heavily on the ground, with Wrex's full weight on him. There was a nasty cracking noise like the shearing of a bough, as the two Krogan rolled on the ground, and when they separated, only Wrex rose to his feet nimbly, while the other was still on his knees, looking dazed and unstable. Wrex lost no time, grabbed his shotgun which had fallen nearby, loaded it in one smooth move, and emptied it, shot after shot, into battlemaster Onerk. By the time Wrex had fired his fourth shot, Onerk was still, as dead as the stones he lay on.

In the meantime, the gunship had landed nearby and two figures emerged from it. The first was a tall and slender human, with pale grey hair and a pair of keen flashing blue eyes, while the second was a small Batarian, carrying a sniper rifle that looked two sizes too big for him. Shepard greeted them all with a question, "Is everyone okay?"

Tali, who had been working on adrenaline until now, felt the reaction hit her as the danger passed and gave a small sob, even as a shudder racked her body. A moment later, she felt a firm, steadying hand on her shoulder and beheld Shepard's anxious face peering at her, "Are you hurt?"

"No," murmured the young Quarian. "No, I'm fine."

Shepard said nothing, but closed his eyes in relief. He seemed to be murmuring a mental prayer of thanks to whatever deity he worshipped.

-(Author's Note)-

[1] – It is the first stanza of Aleksandr Pushkin's poem, `The Song of Wise (Farsighted) Oleg' – a fantastic poem about Prince Oleg, the prophecy he was told and how it came to pass. If you get a chance, do try to read it in Russian, since much of the beauty is lost when you read it in English.

[2] – A Very pistol is a pistol that fires flares.

Do guess where the name ` Константин Ефимович' (Konstantin Efimovich) comes from. Clue: It is a portmanteau name combining the given name and the patronymic of two of Russia's greatest generals.

Shepard's trap setting method and logic will be explained in the next chapter, along with the chat with Liara.


	5. Back Channel Diplomacy

**The Candidate – 5**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect. It belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware. I am merely playing in the world created by them. As usual, all criticism is welcome.

**Back Channel Diplomacy**

Shepard introduced his new friends to Tali. The huge Krogan was introduced as Wrex, a Krogan Battlemaster, and an old acquaintance. The Batarian was called Charn, and had once been a specialist sniper in the Batarian State army. The last was a human, Konstantin Efimovich Kulikov, once one of the finest Alliance gunship pilots, and who, having retired from the army due to an injury, now ran a small business, ferrying equipment across Therum to people and companies who needed them. Shepard produced a bottle of Belvedere vodka from his luggage, along with a small bottle of Turian brandy.

Kulikov chuckled. "I see you came ready."

"Helps to be prepared." replied Shepard with mock seriousness. "Besides, one should travel in style."

Kulikov fetched a few glasses from the gunship, and Shepard poured them out the drinks, while Tali inserted a straw into the Turian brandy. All of them assembled on or around the rover, and sat sampling their drinks in contentment. It was a strange group – a pair of humans, a Batarian, a Krogan and a Quarian, sipping drinks in peace.

Kulikov sampled the vodka with singular relish. "You must have robbed Olympus for this, Johann."

"No." smiled Shepard. "I only robbed a Russian steel tycoon. I have only four more bottles left."

"You must be mad to offer it, then." commented Kulikov with decision.

"How was the trip, Konstantin?" inquired Shepard, over his glass of vodka.

"No problems at all, Johann." answered the other man. "After I got your call yesterday, I got hold of Charn and Wrex, while prepping the gunship in Nova Yekaterinburg [1]. Flying through the night, I got here to Caleston just after dawn. Wrex and Charn were already here by then, and we got into the gunship and waited for your signal near the old airfield. Once we saw your signal, we moved in fast."

"That was excellent work." answered Shepard approvingly.

"Good thing that you were here, Wrex." smiled Shepard shaking the hand of the Krogan. "Without you, that Battlemaster would have eaten us alive."

"Onerk was a tough bastard, but not quite good enough." replied the Krogan in some satisfaction. "It's been sometime since I've had a great fight."

"Aye." replied Shepard thoughtfully. He sighed. "Fighting a Krogan Battlemaster is not for Quarians or humans, or even Batarians, I fear." On a more cheerful note, he continued. "Charn, how have you been? I see your eye has not lost its keenness." Shepard nodded toward the corpse of the Turian who had been shot in the head.

"Bah!" laughed the Batarian. "A blind human could have taken that shot!" Shepard and Charn were given to cheerful insult on occasion, and neither minded it.

"Speciesist!" laughed Shepard, throwing a small pebble at the Batarian.

As they finished their drinks, Charn asked seriously. "What're you up to, Shep?"

"Will you believe me if I say I don't know fully myself?" answered the lieutenant commander thoughtfully, draining his glass. He continued. "I'm here to find an Asari researcher – she's working in these Prothean ruins." He gestured towards the ruins that they could see in the distance. "I need to get to her, and everything will depend on what she can tell me."

"Want us to come along, Shepard?" rumbled the Krogan.

"Not right away. I'll signal you if I need help, or once I have located this Asari." answered Shepard thoughtfully. "In a few hours, Saren will know he failed, and then he'll try to find out what's happened. Once he finds us, we can expect him to haul out the heavy artillery. So – we've got a day at the most to find this Asari and get her out of here. Does anyone know you three are here?"

"No." replied Kulikov. "Both Wrex and Charn got into Caleston quietly, and I flew from Nova Yekaterinburg without telling anyone."

"Excellent! In that case, Konstantin, you should get some rest now. You must be dead tired now. In the evening, take Charn, and Wrex back with you to Nova Yekaterinburg. Destroy everything that implicates any of us here. Then you can all get back to cover, and remain inoffensive and quiet, so no one suspects you. When Saren finds out about this mess, it should give him some pause, which will be to our benefit." He continued. "Tali, do you want to examine the Geth? Maybe you can find something that'll be useful to you and the fleet."

"That'd be nice, Shepard." returned the young Quarian.

"I'll get back here by evening." returned Shepard, rising to his feet. "Hopefully, by then, I will have found this Asari researcher. I'll pick you up then, Tali." She nodded. He turned to the others. "Very well done, indeed, all of you!" Shepard nodded in satisfaction. "Your fee has been taken care of. Next time you are on Arcturus, drinks are on me!"

-(Scene Break)-

A week had passed since the presence of the Geth on Therum had been detected. Admiral Hackett had called the meeting to oversee the progress in the candidature of the new potential spectre, Kaidan Alenko. Alenko himself, Rear Admiral Yi Lin, Ambassador Udina, Captain Anderson, and Rear Admiral Yehoshua Barzilai were sitting around a table in front of the scarred veteran admiral. Admiral Hackett spoke in his deep voice. "So what have we learnt from the business on Therum?"

Captain Anderson answered him, informing him of finding two destroyed rovers, one blown up boy rocket fire, and another crashed into the side of a hill. He also spoke of the Geth and one of the Turians being blown up by rocket fire in the first, and the Krogan dead of shotgun wounds and the second Turian of a sniper bullet. He continued. "The rovers were both hired locally. Both had been hired by two Turians. Both Turians were there most likely under false names, by the way. The Turian hierarchy and Citadel Security both say that the names under which they were hired are untraceable."

The others nodded slowly, around the table.

"Only another Krogan is powerful enough to use a krogan shotgun." commented Admiral Yi Lin.

"True enough." answered Captain Anderson.

"I see." remarked Adm. Hackett thoughtfully. "Continue, captain."

"Two more things. Shepard and his Quarian friend were there in Caleston on that day. They rented a rover and drove out of the town. They may well have been involved in this business!"

"Shepard!" snarled Udina. "He's a prime pain in the ass! What else do we have?"

"We found that, after the call to Admiral Barzilai, he called a certain Konstantin Efimovich Kulikov in Nova Yekaterinburg on Therum. And this Kulikov is a top notch former gunship pilot who runs a transport business on Therum. He also doubles up as a mercenary of sorts." sighed Anderson.

"What does Shepard have to say about all this? And Kulikov?" inquired Hackett.

"Adm. Barzilai can tell you more about Shepard, sir. And as for Kulikov, we interviewed him. He told us to go screw ourselves. We've got nothing against him."

Adm. Barzilai delicately cleared his throat. "As for Shepard, we've got no idea at all where he is, sir. He hired a ship to fly him and two companions - a Quarian and an Asari – from Therum to Omega. We've lost all trace of him since."

"Good heavens, Shuka!" exploded Hackett. "He's your agent! Surely you can raise him?"

"I'm afraid he's no longer one, sir." sighed Barzilai.

"Excuse me?"

"Lieutenant Commander Johann Shepard resigned his commission one day before the Therum business. When I ordered him to stop investigating this case, he refused and resigned his commission in protest. He is no longer part of the Alliance. I've no idea where he is, nor how to reach him." answered Barzilai wearily. "I've questioned his mother, Capt. Berengere Shepard, and also put out word that he is to contact us as soon as possible. There's no word yet. But if he's gone to ground, I don't think we'll find him. He's got contacts all over the Terminus systems and in Batarian space. He could vanish in either region and we'd know precious little about it."

Hackett closed his eyes in exasperation, but Lin questioned. "We know Shepard went into Therum with only a Quarian, but flew out with a Quarian and an Asari. Any idea who this Asari is?"

"Yes." replied Barzilai. "She is the daughter of the Asari matriarch who gave Saren his alibi."

Udina growled. "Splendid! So we have this maverick bastard running around the galaxy, forestalling out attempts, gathering evidence and vanishing with it?"

"She went willingly with him?" asked Yi Lin, ignoring Udina.

"There's no reason to believe otherwise, Lin." returned Anderson. "Her belongings were all packed and taken away."

Hackett ignored the Ambassador. "What do you think, Shuka? What is he up to?"

"Let us try to reconstruct the Therum business, sir." answered Barzilai hesitantly. "Shepard told me, before he resigned, that he was going to try to get to the matriarch's daughter. He thought that she was the key to this whole business. If he was on Therum, and if he called in this Kulikov – Kulikov is devoted to Shepard, by the way – it is quite possible that, between them, Shepard and his allies eliminated the Geth and this Krogan."

"Why would they do that?"

"Shepard thought that Saren's men were trying to kill him. He said so in his call to me. Apparently, an attempt was made on his life on the Citadel. If Saren's thugs ambushed Shepard on Therum, and Shepard foresaw that, or Shepard himself ambushed them, the result would well be what we are seeing now."

"That sniper shot could not have come from either Shepard or Kulikov. It is beyond their skill. Nor could they have used a Krogan shotgun." pointed out Yi Lin.

"Shepard has plenty of contacts. He could have told Kulikov to bring others with him." Barzilai pointed out with a sigh.

"So what do we do now?" asked Adm. Yi Lin.

"Every thread we had has snapped." sighed Anderson.

"What about that thug who attacked Shepard on the Citadel? What does C-Sec say about him?" asked Hackett.

"Nothing, sir." replied Anderson.

"Nothing?"

"The Turian was found poisoned in his cell before he could be brought to interrogation." replied Anderson dryly. There were sharp indrawn breaths from the others at this piece of intelligence.

As the meeting ended, Barzilai signalled Hackett to remain for a moment. "What's it, Shuka?" inquired Hackett after the others were gone.

"There's worse news, sir. Shepard leaving the Alliance is going to leave us more or less blind in many sectors in the Traverse, and especially with raids being planned in Batarian space. It will be several years before we can build our network in those regions."

"What! Why?"

"Intelligence is a matter of contacts AND trust, sir." answered Barzilai. "After the Torfan raid, Shepard came up with a strategy he called positive unilateralism. He thought that since the Alliance had shown its strength and vengeance, it could afford to be more gentle and show the others the benefits of working with humanity. He began a policy of going out of his way to help Batarian and Terminus colonies and officials that did not hurt our interests with unilateral intelligence sharing efforts. He was the spearhead of this charm offensive, and it helped that he could genuinely empathise with other species. Sometimes, I think he was truly more comfortable with other species than humans. So, while his contacts are still in place, they will be far less cooperative with us now, since Shepard is gone. They do not trust the Alliance, they trust Johann Shepard. Our opportunities for electronic intelligence will also be correspondingly less since many colonies will be far less willing to let us establish posts."

"So what would you suggest, Shuka?"

"It would help if we could bring him back."

"He's broken discipline, and ignored our orders." pointed out Adm. Hackett.

"I know what he has done, Steve." answered Barzilai, his eyes troubled. "However, if he shows up the Alliance by getting the evidence against Saren himself, we'll be in a worse mess. We'll be the laughing stock of the Council. Can you imagine it? The entire Alliance, with all its resources, could not do what one single man managed to accomplish on his own!"

Hackett groaned, and buried his face in his hands, as Barzilai continued. "Nevertheless, we should focus on getting this evidence against Saren on our own, ASAP!"

Hackett raised his head. "On that, we can agree." However, he added morosely. "I wonder if we did the right thing putting Alenko and Udina on this case. Both of them seem out of their depths."

-(Scene Break)-

A human was ushered into the lofty council chamber in the city of Armali. Shepard was well aware of the fact that the Alliance would view his actions as a gross betrayal of the Alliance in particular and humanity in general. However, he had made his choices, and he was willing to play his game to the end. As such, with the evidence he held, he had chosen to return to Citadel space, not in the Citadel itself, but in the home world of the Asari. Calling in several favours, he had passed on copies of his evidence to the Asari intelligence and a matriarch on the Council of Armali. It was no surprise, then, that he was able to influence the matriarch and obtain the audience that he so ardently desired. No sooner was he inside than all the doors were sealed and the regular staff were escorted out by a squad of Asari security personnel.

The Asari councillor, Tevos, was standing in the chamber, accompanied by one of the most powerful matriarchs on the Council of Armali, Matriarch Artemisia. Another younger Asari, introduce to Shepard as Tela Vasir, stood aloof and away from the others, her military bearing and uniform proclaiming her more martial character, as opposed to the more pacific appearance of the others. Shepard, dressed in civilian clothes, and wrapped in a grey shawl around his shoulders, bowed to his audience politely. Councillor Tevos began the meeting. "Commander Shepard we are grateful that you are here. We are here to review the evidence you produced and consider our future course of action."

Matriarch Artemisia added. "We reviewed the evidence you sent us, Commander. Some aspects of it were … disquieting."

"The principal evidence is this." remarked the Asari Councillor, confirming that Shepard indeed stood by his proof. She played the short voice clip that Tali had salvaged from the Geth destroyer. "_Eden Prime was a major victory. It has brought us one step closer to the Conduit." _came Saren's strong voice. "_And one step closer to the return of the Reapers!" _came the cultured Asari voice of Matriarch Benezia in response.

Matriarch Artemisia sighed wearily. "And Saren used Salarian reconnaissance over Eden Prime to plan his attacks."

Councillor Tevos took up the narrative once more. "Our forensics examined the recordings you sent us, and they agree that the data can have come only from a Geth's memory banks."

However, Tela Vasir was far less accommodative. "Commander Shepard, I take it that we would be right in saying that you did not run across the Geth evidence by chance?"

"You would." replied Shepard shortly.

"So how did you know where to find them?" asked Matriarch Artemisia.

"By baiting them into a trap, ma'am." returned Shepard.

"Perhaps you would care to explain further, Commander." suggested the Asari Councillor.

Shepard thought for a moment, and then he began. "The beginning of the whole saga was the beacon on Eden Prime. Please observe that it was inactive before the Geth attack and was already active when Alenko and I got to it. So – it is logical that it was activated by whoever orchestrated that attack."

The councillor, Vasir and the matriarch all nodded, and Shepard continued. "The interesting part was how, after activating the beacon and using it, the attacker had decided to blow up the colony along with the beacon. As far as the attacker was concerned, he had got his knowledge from the beacon and was anxious that no one else discover that knowledge. That was why he had tried to blow up the colony. Are we agreed on this?"

His audience exchanged glances, but agreed. Shepard proceeded. "As far as I know, the only one to come in contact with the beacon after it was activated was myself. From the attacker's point of view, I might have gained the knowledge from the beacon. Consequently, I was a danger to him and had to be silenced." He paused for a moment as if arranging his thoughts, and then explained. "You may remember, mesdames, that there was an attempt on my life on the Citadel nine days ago, just after I returned from Eden Prime."

"There was an intruder, Commander." admonished Vasir. "There is no reason to believe that he sought to take your life."

Shepard all but rolled his eyes at the Turian's attempt at playing down the evidence. He remarked quietly. "Ma'am, that Turian broke into my hotel room with a false key card, and he had brought a silenced shotgun – a mod that is illegal on the Citadel, I might add – with a shortened barrel in the dead of the night. That, ma'am, is a perfect assassin's weapon. I don't think he came to tell me bedtime stories!"

The Asari councillor, however, intervened. "Please continue, Commander."

"The day prior to the attempted assassination, I had been followed. I wondered why, you see. If assassination was the purpose, why did they not simply use a sniper as I walked about the Citadel? After all, it would be much easier than sneaking a shotgun thug into my hotel room. And much less liable to be discovered."

"And?" prompted the Asari councillor.

"To that, I got the answer, Councillor, that they wanted me silenced, but only after they had questioned me. They wanted some answers from me. Whoever was afraid of the knowledge I had gained from the beacon, was even more afraid that I had already passed it on to others. So – not only did they want to permanently silence me, they also wanted to know what I knew and more importantly, who else knew what."

"Is all this getting anywhere?" growled Vasir.

"Patience." spoke Shepard softly, and the others looked at this human in curiosity. "Once I knew that I was being shadowed, it became easy for me to bait my own trap. I made it known that I was going to visit a Prothean scholar on Therum, indeed the daughter of the one who had given Saren his alibi, their hand was forced. By this time, I knew that Matriarch Benezia had lied, and my attackers would be worried that I knew it. I could not be allowed to meet this Asari and thus share my knowledge with an expert. Once that was done, from their point of view, the situation would be beyond redemption. Therefore, I had to be caught, questioned, and silenced."

Shepard paced across the chamber. "It was unlikely that my ship would be shot down, since they wanted me alive to question. When I looked at the map of Caleston, I asked myself where I would set the ambush if I were my enemy. The place I was ambushed in was the best – and only possible ambush spot along the route I was travelling. From my own perspective, this potential ambush on Therum was a double advantage. Given how sparsely populated it is, it was likely that my enemy would send Geth – after all, Geth had been used on the far more densely populated Eden Prime. If Geth were sent, I might be able to get some evidence from their memory banks, which was why I had my Quarian companion with me on Therum. She is an expert on hacking Geth. I could, of course, not hope for such damning evidence as I did get. That was Providence's gift to my cause. Nevertheless, the chance of getting into a Geth memory bank and stopping the potential ambush against me in the same stroke was perfect. I made my own contingency arrangements, and what followed as an eventuality."

When Shepard finished his explanation, there was dead silence, as the Asari stared at each other and at Shepard. The Asari councillor began hesitantly. "Who else knows about this evidence?"

"No one." returned Shepard quietly.

"Excuse me?" The younger Asari was completely incredulous, while the other two also were taken by surprise. "Surely your superiors in the Alliance know?" When the evidence had been passed to them through the back channels in the Asari intelligence, they had all assumed that it was the Alliance that had been acting through Commander Shepard.

"No, ma'am." replied Shepard calmly. "I am no longer an officer of the Alliance. And I repeat that the only one who knows about this evidence is me."

"You are no longer an Alliance officer?" inquired the Matriarch.

"No, ma'am".

"Since when?"

"Since the last nine days."

"May we inquire the reasons for your leaving, Commander Shepard?"

"I was ordered off this investigation, ma'am. I refused and resigned." returned Shepard. "After a moment's pause, he added with a grimace of disgust. "War is too serious a business to be left to military men."

"War, Commander Shepard?" inquired the Asari councillor.

"Can you imagine the effect if the entire thing became known?" asked Shepard. "A Turian spectre uses a squadron of Geth to raid the symbol of human space colonisation. In this task, he is aided by Salarian intelligence of Eden Prime. Protecting him, providing him a fake alibi is an Asari matriarch, a former councillor of Armali, who has conveniently been allowed to resign her post. Every hallmark of a conspiracy is present here. It is not too much to say that it would spur an immediate arms race with the rest of the council, while provoking an outright war with the Geth. It is something that might well cost millions of lives! Even if war could somehow be avoided, the ensuing political climate would make it impossible for the Alliance to cooperate with the Council, even in matters that benefit everyone. Even normal trade would be severely affected in this atmosphere of heightened suspicion. It would be a losing proposition for all of us!"

Shepard added, as he paced around. "Further, there was the question of Matriarch Benezia. I know her by reputation; she has always been a friend of the humans and she is not the kind of person to be involved in an attack on a human colony. Once I released this information to the Alliance, her reputation would be in the mud, and nothing could save her. I owed it to her to give her a chance to explain her actions before I went to the Alliance with the knowledge of her guilt."

"What do we know about this Conduit and the Reapers." asked the Asari councillor.

"Only what I have gleaned from Dr. Liara T'Soni." answered Shepard. "No one knows precisely what the Conduit is, merely that it is a word that occurs repeatedly in the time around the Prothean extinction. There have been many theories what it is, but there is no unanimity, or even much consonance. As for the Reapers, they are supposed to be a race of sentient machines that wiped out the Protheans and vanished after the Prothean extinction."

The three Asari exchanged nervous glances. "So what now, Commander?" asked the Asari councillor.

"That is for you to say, Councillor." returned Shepard.

"It is not possible to withhold this information forever." said the Asari councillor slowly.

"I agree." answered Shepard. "However, the Alliance is after Saren. As long as they get their wish ...".

The two older Asari exchanged swift glances. "Thank you, Commander Shepard. We'd be obliged if you can wait outside while we consider this matter."

Shepard bowed and retired.

-(Scene Break)-

"Tela, what do you think?" asked Matriarch Artemisia, once Shepard had left the room.

"He is a complete bastard!" answered the younger Asari with conviction.

The other two smiled, as Tela Vasir continued. "He screwed up the mission, and got the beacon destroyed. Then he was ordered to leave the investigations to the others, but disobeyed his orders, investigated the matter himself. Finally, having burnt his bridges with the Alliance, he brought us the proof so that we would bribe him to keep his mouth shut!"

"His reasons for bringing the proof to us make sense." remarked Matriarch Artemisia quietly.

"Of course, they do." replied Vasir. "Otherwise, the whole charade would fall apart. As it is, no matter what we think, there is nothing we can prove."

However, in a more contemplative tone, she continued. "Yet he has one quality that we should respect. Ability. He has managed to gather this kind of conclusive evidence, on his own, with no help from the Alliance. This kind of resourcefulness and self reliance is what we prize among the spectres. I made some inquiries about him, and he is the top Alliance operative in the Traverse, which should make him a very capable agent. However, he is not the type to be loyal to the Council, ma'am."

"What can we do?" asked Councillor Tevos.

"Killing him might not help." said Vasir. "Anyone who plays a game this deep is likely to have taken steps to leak out the intelligence he has gathered, in the event of his untimely demise. We have nothing to blackmail him with. Threaten to hand him back to the Alliance? He'll laugh at that threat – he has done nothing illegal there, and worse, he will leak this proof, along with our own conduct here. That leaves us only one course – to bribe him for his cooperation" Vasir spat out the last word with a singular contempt.

"Maybe we can compromise between our distaste of him and our need to keep him quiet now. Let us hand him a poisoned chalice." murmured Matriarch Artemisia, a cold, cruel smile playing on her lips.

The other two looked at her as she began to expound her plan.

-(Author's Note)-

Okay, in this chapter, you are beginning to see Shepard and his own games. He has his goals, but so have the others, and it is going to make for an interesting conflict of interests and multi dimensional chess games played by everyone of consequence.

Do tell me what you would do in case you were in the place of the Asari.

Konstantin Efimovich is a portmanteau of the given name and the patronymic of two of Russia's greatest generals, Konstantin Rokossovsky and Mikhail Efimovich Katukov.

[1] – Nova Yekaterinburg is the capital of the planet Therum, according the the Mass Effect Wiki.


	6. The Parting Gift

**The Candidate – 6**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect. It belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware. I am merely playing in the universe created by them. As usual, all criticism is welcome.

**The Parting Gift**

Early next day, Admiral Barzilai got a call from Captain Berengere Shepard, the head of secret Alliance science projects, "Sir, Johann has been in contact."

Barzilai inquired eagerly, "Where is he?"

"I don't know where he currently is, but he called me ten minutes ago to propose a meeting between Alliance representatives and himself in the Afterlife Tavern on Omega two days from now."

"What's he been doing, Berengere?" asked Barzilai.

Berengere answered, "I've no idea. He merely assured me he is well, and proposed the meeting. And he also said that he would not meet if the Alliance representatives included Staff Lt. Kaidan Alenko."

Barzilai nodded – Berengere's holo-vid was tapped, and he could verify it himself. But he thanked his subordinate for her information, and cut the holo-vid.

-(Scene Break)-

Johann Shepard had left the council house of Armali with considerable apprehension. His orders had been unpleasant and hard, as he had expected them to be. After all, even if the Asari liked his treason, they would have no reason to like the traitor, as they now saw him. That was fine, as far as Shepard was concerned. He had his own reasons, and no one knew them, and that was all he cared about. Let the Asari see him as they wanted – it made no difference to him. He would do what needed to be done, and that was all there was to it.

There were two other problems, however, and he had already initiated steps to deal with the first of them. The Alliance was furious against him. However, the Alliance reaction against him could be easily contained, given the evidence that he now held in his hands. They would have to play by his rules if they wanted their spectre and bring down Saren, and Shepard knew that the Alliance desperately wanted both. So, here at least, he held the high cards. As long as his own demands were not deemed exorbitant by the Alliance, it would agree to pay it without demur.

But it was the second problem that worried him. One of the few concessions he had wrested from the Asari was the he would be allowed to bring in his own people in the task that had been set for him. And for that, to even have a good chance at success, he needed both Tali'Zorah nar Rayya and Liara T'Soni to aid him unhesitatingly. And this assistance could be obtained only if they both were willing to aid him. Their help could only be obtained by persuasion, not by coercion. One of the earliest lessons that Capt. Berengere Shepard had instilled in the the newly commissioned intelligence officer, the then Lt. Johann Shepard, was that any forced help would only be half hearted, and fraught with the threat of betrayal, often at the worst possible time. She had drilled into his mind that he should obtain any help, as far as possible, by getting others to offer it willingly. And for that to happen, he would have to tell both Tali and Liara the task that had been set for him – perhaps not in all details, but the main gist of it. And he would have to think up sound reasons to encourage them to offer their expertise to his cause.

The day after the meeting with the Asari in Armali, Shepard returned to Omega, and immediately, the two women had questioned him. Shepard pressed refreshments on the two, and explained slowly, "My meeting on Armali went quite well, considering our own situation. I'm, in effect, to lead a special investigative team financed by the council of Armali in investigating Lady Benezia. There are two main conditions. The first is that the entire effort has to be a complete secret. The second is that there is only one month to complete the task. At the end of the month, I'm to submit a report on the entire matter."

"What exactly are you to investigate, Shepard?" asked Liara, her voice charged with anxiety.

Shepard pursed his lips, and answered quietly, "Exactly why Lady Benezia covered up for Saren, the extent of her support for him, and what her activities have been since she disappeared from Armali." He continued, "Liara, I know this is damned cheek of me to ask, but will you help me in this task? The reason I ask is this – you know your mother best, Liara. Is this not completely out of character for her?"

Liara nodded. "She'd never support an attack on a human colony."

"I agree," replied Shepard. "In which case, we need to prove her innocent. And in that task, I cannot envision anyone more zealous than you. However, there is the off chance that she is indeed guilty. Therefore, I ask you – think carefully, and tell me if you will help me in this."

"I'll gladly help, Shepard," answered Liara. "But what can I …."

Shepard readily answered her unfinished question, "This business began with an attack for a Prothean beacon. It seems to be mixed up with Prothean relics and archaeology. I can't think of anyone more qualified to handle Prothean artefacts than you."

Liara nodded slowly, as Shepard turned to Tali, "Tali, you've helped me against the Geth. Again, when we go to investigate Benezia, it is quite probable we will run into Geth. If Saren's Geth dared attack us, they maybe acting against Lady Benezia as well. I don't think I can handle Geth without your assistance. Will you help me in this matter, Tali?"

Tali answered slowly, "If this woman is innocent, I couldn't bear to see her falsely accused. If she's working with Geth, on the other hand, she needs to be stopped. Yes, Shepard, I'll help you."

"Thank you, both of you!" There was genuine gratitude in Shepard's voice.

Shepard walked to the window, looking out on the bleak, unwashed walls of the apartment opposite their own. Such young things the two were, reflected Shepard, which was amusing since Liara was at least three times as old as he was. However, there was no denying that both his companions were politically naïve. They had no idea what they were agreeing to. If Shepard did not have such compelling reasons, he would have refused the task and disappeared into his quiet assignments in the Traverse. And now, not only was he in this god-damned mess, but he was dragging into it two innocent young women, who would be lucky if they left this business with their lives intact. He could almost hear his mother's sad voice. Once when he had asked her how she dealt with getting her friends and other innocents into trouble, she had confessed, '_I've always similarly struggled with feelings of regret and guilt. That, by the way, is a very good thing.'_

_'Good?' Shepard had echoed quizzically._

_Capt. Shepard had replied, `Yes. If you ever stopped worrying about them, then that would be a cause for alarm. In truth, Johann, those feelings tell you that your heart is still alive. They will also keep you a little more honest and caring – well, as honest and caring as one can be in our profession.'_

Shepard could not deny his mother's warning, and even his feelings of guilt had found a use – they kept him on his toes and always on the watch for the safety and interests of his companions. And he knew that if his guilt ever disappeared, then his own transformation into a Saren Arterius or a Tela Vasir would be complete. And at that point his conscience would have atrophied completely. It was like butchers becoming habituated to the slaughter of sheep, he supposed. One more death, one more name to be crossed out, one more statistic!

From behind him, he heard the voice of the Asari, "Shepard, is there something wrong?"

Shepard turned around with a false smile, "No, no. Just thinking how we will approach this problem!"

-(Scene Break)-

When Capt. David Anderson arrived in the Afterlife, he saw Shepard already sitting at a table, dressed in civilian clothes. He rose in greeting, and saluted the captain. Anderson was in no way moved by the formality and politeness of this former Alliance officer.

Shepard was nothing if not unfailingly polite. He opened a bottle of champagne, and poured down drinks for both himself and the captain. However, Anderson left his drink untouched and his attitude left no doubt about the distaste he evinced for his former executive officer. At once, he began the interrogation, his manner frigid, his voice arctic, "Shepard, the Alliance would like to have a full report of what you've been up to."

Shepard made no objection to that command. He quietly recounted, "As you know, I left for Therum ten days ago with a friend. On Therum, I ran into a Krogan, a couple of Turians and a bunch of Geth, who attacked my friend and me. With some help, we managed to stop them."

"What help did you have?" inquired Anderson.

"Some hired help, Captain," replied Shepard. "Do their names matter?"

"It would help us check your story," answered Anderson.

"It would also get them into trouble with the Alliance," returned Shepard drily. "Suffice to say I hired some help and when the Geth and the Turians tried to ambush me, I was ready for them. After those thugs had been taken care of, I met Dr. T'Soni imprisoned by the geth. We decided that, with the attacks on us continuing unremittingly, it would be unsafe for us to remain in Alliance or Citadel space where Saren's men seemed to dog our footsteps with impunity. I arranged for us to move into Omega to lie low. There, with hired equipment, we inspected the evidence we gathered from the Geth. We got what we wanted – solid proof against Saren. However, given the tenacity with which I was being chased, I decided to lie low for a time. Once I felt safe, I decided to contact my mother, and arrange this meeting."

Anderson broke in excitedly, "You have proof against Saren?"

"Yes, sir. Incontrovertible evidence."

"Let us see it."

Shepard made no objection. He triggered the evidence collected from the Geth using his omni tool. Captain Anderson could hear the strong voice of Saren, `_Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to the Conduit!' _"That's Saren's voice!" he exclaimed.

"Of course," returned Shepard coldly.

"Return with me, Shepard," continued Anderson, oblivious to the younger man's cold and haughty demeanour. "We can present this evidence to the Council. With this, we can get Saren proscribed!"

"You can take this evidence, Captain Anderson," replied Shepard, "as soon as we have agreed about a few other things."

"What do you mean, Shepard?" Captain Anderson was clearly perplexed, and was now growing more than a touch wary.

"Merely that I will not be returning with you, sir. I am willing to hand over this evidence to the Alliance, once it agrees to my terms." Shepard's voice was growing colder with each passing word.

Anderson's lips thinned. "Not returning with me, I see. So what do you plan to do next?"

Shepard shrugged, "I am taking up a job with Synthetic Insights, sir. I have been offered a positions in one of their research divisions."

Anderson looked hard at him, wondering whether to believe this information or not. But it would be unlike Shepard to lie openly, particularly about a matter that could be easily verified by the Alliance. Presumably, then, Shepard, was speaking the truth. But why had he chosen to go to work there? It would bear watching. But the possibility that Shepard might not choose to return to the Alliance had been foreseen by the Alliance brass since Shepard had elected to meet on Omega instead of Alliance space. Several contingency plans had been considered for the possible scenarios that might unfold. Anderson leaned back in his chair. "What do you want, Shepard?"

"Two things," returned Shepard very quietly. "First, there are to be no repercussions for my mother from the Alliance. She knew nothing of this, and she is completely innocent. There are to be no anonymous notes in her record, no references about this incident in her file. Any remarks that have already been made are to be summarily expunged. Is that understood?"

Anderson thought for a moment, and finally nodded. If Capt. Berengere Shepard was innocent, as Johann Shepard claimed, then Anderson was not for perpetrating an injustice against her, no matter what her son had done. In any case, Yehoshua Barzilai would not allow Berengere Shepard to be targeted so easily. She was a valued officer and he would protect her. All in all, that was a small price to pay for obtaining the proof against Saren.

Shepard continued, "The other demand is the personal liberty of my companions, and myself. Neither myself, nor my companions on Therum, are, at any time, to be arrested, charged, detained, or interrogated in connexion with our actions over the past ten days, since the attack on Eden Prime. If we ever set foot in Alliance space, we are not to be taken into custody or otherwise delayed over this matter. In short, this investigation into Therum is to be closed, and the files sealed."

"Damn it, man! The Alliance military will never agree to that!" Anderson was on his feet.

"Why not?" queried Shepard, almost bored now. "Do you know any better way to obtain evidence against Saren? Or to make Lt. Alenko a spectre? With this evidence, you should be able to get Saren proscribed, and Alenko made a spectre. Udina should be able to bully the Council with this proof to do things the Alliance way!"

"But the Alliance will never agree to close this investigation!" insisted Anderson.

"Have they made any progress in it as of now?" asked Shepard rhetorically. "Why is it such a bad idea to wind up an investigation that has yielded little fruit?"

Anderson stood irresolute, and Shepard quietly pointed out, "You have no evidence about the Therum affair. You have no evidence against Saren. At this rate, Alenko will never become a spectre if you cannot raise your evidence against Saren and fast. Who knows what else that madman is planning and how many other colonies are in danger from him and his Geth?"

Anderson paced around, his head sunk on his chest, when Shepard sighed, almost wearily, "Has the Alliance sunk so low that it would seek to requite evil for good? Is leaving my friends and me alone such a heavy price to pay for the service I am offering it?"

Anderson chose to ignore that almost insulting observation. Instead, he asked, "Shepard, you were anxious to get the matriarch's daughter on Therum. Why?"

"For a simple reason," returned Shepard. "Benezia is a known friend of humanity, sir. She was one of the first to bat for the Alliance in the wake of the First Contact War. Why would she help establish an alibi for Saren? You can't bribe, frighten or blackmail an Asari matriarch of her stature. She is quite immune to all that. The only way I could see that could coerce the matriarch into cooperating with Saren was a hold on her daughter. When I found that she had been given a grant to go to a barely known Prothean ruin far from Asari space, it confirmed my suspicions. If this Asari, working on some remote dig site, far from all civilisation, was in Saren's grasp, Benezia might easily be forced into doing what Saren wanted. She does love her daughter, you know."

"So you think …," Anderson's voice trailed away.

Shepard shrugged, "I found Dr. Liara T'Soni imprisoned by a few of Saren's Geth. That is also where I got my evidence against Saren."

"And did you have Krogan friends helping you?"

"I had help, yes," replied Shepard. "I won't say whose, though."

Anderson did not challenge his remark. He was staring in the distance. Finally, he inquired, "Why are you doing this Shepard?"

Shepard explained patiently, "I've got no quarrel with the Alliance, which is why I am presenting them with this evidence. However, given Udina's vindictive nature, and the vicious inter-departmental rivalry inside the Alliance, I need to protect myself and my friends. I cannot allow the Alliance to screw us over this matter. This way, we both get what we want. The Alliance gets rid of Saren, and gets its spectre, Kaidan Alenko, while we get the Alliance off our backs, and are allowed to go our own way. Win win for everyone."

"I don't mean this specifically," replied Anderson. "There's something you are hiding. Why aren't you returning to the Alliance? Was it because you were removed as the Alliance candidate for the spectre?"

Shepard shook his head slowly, pointing out drily, "Udina's usurpation of your powers was the last straw, sir. You were supposed to decide who would be the Alliance candidate, and yet, he had already decided it, feeding Hackett his own version of the events." However, he continued, more pensively, "I've been considering leaving the Alliance for five years now. Since Torfan, in fact."

Anderson looked curiously at his former executive officer, and the latter explained, "You may remember my reports of the Torfan raid, sir." Anderson remembered them indeed. Shepard had been one of the few officers to have drawn up a harsh memorandum on the brutalities of the Alliance forces in the Torfan raid. Unlike many others outside the navy whose criticisms of the brutalities were based on moral objections, Shepard had put forward not only moral objections, but had also pointed to serious consequences to Alliance morale and the political standing. Even five years ago, Anderson reflected, Shepard had realised that the Alliance rule encompassed not merely human colonies, and that it could no longer be governed as a human alone enterprise. Once the Alliance had expanded into the Traverse, the planets under its control had, in sum, several tens of millions of aliens, ranging from Asari, through Salarians and Turians, to Batarians and Quarians, who had to be ruled, mostly by humans, and in whose eyes, the Alliance had to gain legitimacy in order to cement its rule.

In the aftermath of the Torfan campaign, Shepard had written, `_It is incorrect to believe that the butchery of a few thousand Batarians and other criminals would either extinguish the Batarian fury against the `upstart humans', or put an end to the slaver and pirate depredations against Alliance planets. The former, many of whom are law abiding inhabitants of planets under Alliance control, will merely view the Alliance as a motley crowd of barbarians and be more inclined to rebel or otherwise inconvenience us, while the latter will continue to exist and thrive as long as their own goods, services and supplies are in demand. By bypassing the law, and circumventing due process, we are merely harming our own standing among the non-humans within Alliance space, not to mention the other species without._

_It is hardly necessary to mention the effect of these massacres on the remainder of the navy and the intelligence forces, which are compelled to passively observe these crimes. The worst damage will be to the morale of the Alliance forces, in this environment of brutalisation and moral depravity. When the Alliance politicians and High Command condone or endorse, by commission or omission, these crimes, then within the shortest spell of time, only the brutal shall rule. With astonishing speed, men and women of the same sick leanings and character will come together, in order to give full vent to their beastly and pathological instincts, as in the case of Torfan. There is, at present, hardly any way to rein them in, for no prosecutions have been sanctioned against any of the accused officers and men. The only way to protect against this epidemic is to bring the guilty to book in a fair, clear and transparent fashion, for not only does justice need to be done, it should also be seen to be done._

Shepard had recommended that several officers and soldiers be tried for war crimes. He could remember the then young lieutenant calling a particularly ruthless officer who had caused enormous casualties, both among the Batarians and in his own unit, `_ein Brunnenvergifter und Brandstifter' _(a well-poisoner and arsonist) and `_dieser unmenschliche Barbar'_ (this inhuman barbarian) in an emotional letter to his mother. Anderson could well imagine the superbly educated, highly polished and diplomatic Shepard being repulsed by the brutalities perpetrated by a victorious Alliance, even if Anderson himself and the Alliance brass saw the need for such ruthless officers and soldiers in the brutal battles that occurred on the ground. It was not sufficient to merely have the smooth, sly intelligence officers like Johann Shepard. Infantry combat was always brutal, and once the pins started hitting the primers, it was better to have hard, ruthless bastards in charge, rather than weak fools. In order to keep these hard fighting men and women in the Alliance forces, the High Command was willing to pay the price of overlooking their not so occasional transgressions against the rules, even the odd war crime. Moreover, being the strict disciplinarian that he was, Anderson was sure that Shepard would have seen the lack of discipline among the troops as something appalling and loathsome. That was always the problem of Johann Shepard. He judged everyone, himself included, according to his excruciatingly exacting standards. Few crossed that hurdle.

Not that anything had come of Shepard's complaints, though. The Alliance High Command had dismissed his reports as `naive and childish' and Shepard himself as `an officer who wants to conduct modern warfare like a medieval tourney'. Further, in the atmosphere of victory, it was impossible to try anyone for war crimes, no matter how heinous their actions. That would ruin the triumphant spirit and the narrative of an Alliance victory against barbarians, and no one wanted to rake up this unhappy matter. The matter had simply been covered up.

Shepard would have suffered for his audacity, but for the intervention of Rear Adm. Yehoshua Barzilai. Barzilai had shifted Shepard away from coordinating intelligence to the regular naval units and into a job he was well suited to – working quietly in an independent intelligence unit against pirates and slavers in Alliance planets, often inhabited heavily by Batarians and sometimes, in Batarian space itself. Left to his own devices, and more or less removed from the more fractious politics of the Alliance, Shepard, with his amazing thoroughness, meticulous calculation, genuine empathy, and diplomatic opportunism had thrived. Given the difficulties of the situation, and his own often meagre resources, Shepard's strategy of building relations and making alliances with friendly Batarians and other non-humans had been largely successful, and both the Alliance and Shepard himself had reaped the benefits of this strategy.

Shepard had read the expression on Anderson's preoccupied face aright, as he continued, "Yes, sir. I was always a well-adjusted misfit in the Alliance. I don't think my continuing there would benefit either of us. This solution is for the best."

Anderson finally nodded, "Alright, Shepard. The case will be closed."

Shepard nodded, in turn. "Here, Capt. Anderson, is your evidence."

-(Author's Notes)-

The background of Johann Shepard, his qualities and his doubts. The important point is that Shepard is not a good combatant, and definitely not an inspirational leader. He can and does strike bargains behind the scenes, is a very sound diplomat, and has very solid political foresight, but his actual leadership ability, both within combat and without, is extremely suspect.

And by the way, don't be taken in by what Shepard said to Anderson. Shepard is a crafty, manipulative bastard who is playing his own game.

Do guess what the memo written by Shepard to the Alliance High Command is based on. Hint: It was written on February 6, 1940 in Posen (Poznan).

By the way, my German is more than a trifle rusty. I have not used the language in nearly ten years. Please do let me know if I have made any mistakes in the text and I will correct it.


	7. Debriefing

**The Candidate – 7 **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect. All that belongs to Bioware, and Drew Karpyshyn. I am merely playing in their universe.

**Debriefing**

Shepard was sitting in a ward of the command hospital in Armali. He had been brought there the moment he had landed in Thessia. He had requested that the four injured and exhausted commandos along with Matriarch Benezia to be taken to the local hospital. However, the Asari authorities, having taken one look at him and his companions, had insisted that he too accompany the others for a quick evaluation at the same medical facility. Shepard couldn't deny that he too needed some rest as well. The last two weeks had been nerve-wracking, so the rest it offered would be very welcome indeed.

Shepard had slept in the bed trying to get as much rest as he could before the investigators turned up. He had managed to get a few hours sleep before he had been woken up by a nurse who told him he had guests. Shepard had managed to make himself look somewhat presentable but there wasn't much you could do in a few minutes.

As his 'guests' began to enter his room Shepard had to admit that his set of visitors were truly august and indimidating**.** The first to enter was councillor Tevos followed by a spectre, Tela Vasir, who had been sent to observe him. She looked angry enough to scratch his eyes out. `_It is either that or she'll shoot me between the eyes if I so much as twitch in a way she doesn't like.'_ Shepard thought darkly.

Behind Tela was Matriarch Artemisia, the Asari who had awarded him his current task. The last to enter was a normal looking Asari if it weren't for the eyes. Those eyes told him that nothing would be able to take her off guard and that if anything tried it would most likely turn up dead and beaten. Not necessarily in that order. The last Asari was introduced as Matriarch Thalia.

Shepard's four visitors took in his exhausted appearance and his weak attempt to freshen himself up. Matriarch Artemisia waved Shepard back in his back imperiously when he rose to greet them. Shepard sat on the edge of his bed as three of his four visitors occupied the three chairs while Tela placed herself with her back to the door.

"Commander Shepard," began Councillor Tevos, "we are here to congratulate you on your successful mission. Bringing Matriarch Benezia and her students who were trapped on Noveria back here safely without raising any suspicion about what happened to them was a superb performance on your part." Councillor Tevos paused to let that sink in. "Particularly given the difficulty of the task and the unforeseen complications."

The remark about the unforeseen complications had not been unexpected. But he preferred to let them lead the interrogation. "I merely did my job, Councillor," Shepard said mildly. "I'm more interested about the matriarch and her students. Are they alright?"

"You will be pleased to know that they will recover completely." Matriarch Artemisia answered with a warm smile. "This city owes you its gratitude, Commander. As for myself, I owe you a debt that I cannot ever repay. Matriarch Benezia is a close personal friend."

Tela Vasir began the interrogation. "Tell us how you got them out?" she asked him. Though it sounded more like a demand than a politely asked question.

Shepard considered for a few moments, trying to arrange his thoughts, and began, "When I landed in Port Hanshan, I learnt that the Binary Helix security had sent a code omega signal – a terminal breach of security protocols and shut down the station VI. If there was no `all clear' signal from Binary Helix security within a reasonable period of time, the Noveria Corporate Board would vote whether to destroy the facility. I had to forestall them. Using our cover as the experts hired to put in place the new security devices and protocols for Synthetic Insights, Liara, Tali and I began installing surveillance devices provided by the Asari intelligence around the Binary Helix buildings. Initial observations showed that there was an outer cordon of Geth outside the labs. Familiarising ourselves with the Geth patrol times and routes in a couple of days, Tali and I sneaked past them to the VI and we managed to bring it back online without much trouble. We prioritised only electronic surveillance of the entire station, shutting down all other functions, and arranged for the VI to send us the surveillance footage at irregular intervals to prevent the Geth from picking up the transmissions." Shepard paused again to let that sink in and to see if they had any questions. Since none of them said anything Shepard continued retelling what had happened.

"After our surveillance, I saw that the situation was complicated. There was an outer ring of Geth, cutting off access to the outside. Inside the main facility, there was a horde of Rachni cutting off access to the tramways which led to the rift station, which was where Lady Benezia and the still living staff of Binary Helix were holed up. The security and scientists had retreated to one of the med bays. The Matriarch, and her remaining students had been driven back into one of the labs. Between the scientists and the Matriarch, was another bunch of Geth. To make matters worse, I found that the Matriarch was not... In full possession of her faculties. She was in considerable distress, both from whatever was tormenting her and from Rachni venom. So were a couple of her students."

For the first time, Matriarch Thalia spoke, her eyes flashing, "What was Benezia suffering from apart from Rachni toxin?"

"I am not at all sure," spoke Shepard softly, his voice fraught with worry. "I only know what her student – a Dr. Alestia Iallis – reported to Liara."

The Matriarchs exchanged glances. "What did she say?"

"That Matriarch Benezia had been … under the influence of Saren."

"How so?" The question had come like a bullet from Tela Vasir.

"Apparently, the monstrous dreadnought that Saren possesses emits some kind of signal allows him to bend the wills of the others. Dr. Iallis escaped only because she and another of the Matriarch's students had never been on the ship," returned Shepard drily.

"That's preposterous!" exploded Vasir. "No ship could …."

"I don't know," returned Shepard, his gentle voice full of concern. "On Eden Prime, people who had been exposed to that ship's signal for just a few minutes spoke of suffering from a searing headache. Is it so impossible that the ship should be able to affect the minds of those who were in it for long periods?"

The others stared at each other in worry, and, it seemed to Shepard, fear. Vasir perched herself on the window ledge. Matriarch Artemisia intervened, "Be that as it may, please continue, Commander."

Shepard shot an irritated look at Vasir took a deep breath to calm down and continued where he had been interrupted.

Shepard proceeded, "There were two separate groups of people who were in distress and both had to be rescued nearly simultaneously. From the conversations between the Asari that the VI surveillance picked up, I also knew that the Matriarch and some of her students had been poisoned, I had to get an antidote for them."

"And how did you get Rachni anti-venom?' asked Councillor Tevos.

"Rachni venom is basically a variant of warfarin," sighed Shepard. "It interferes the ability of blood to clot. The best antidote to it is phylloquinone. However, phylloquinone is a controlled substance on Noveria, and not sold without a prescription. So, I had to improvise the antidote."

The four Asari stared at each other in stupefaction. "How did you do it?" inquired Matriarch Thalia finally.

"It was not all that hard," smiled Shepard. "Menadione, a pet food supplement, is however easily available. I simply had to buy a few dozen tablets, and heat them with an equivalent mixture of phytol – a raw material used in making perfumes – in the presence of oxalic acid dihydrate – essentially, stain removers."

"And this was what was in the blackened vials that were found in your luggage?" asked Matriarch Artemisia, thunderstruck.

"Indeed, yes," answered Shepard.

It was well for the Asari that they were already sitting down. What this human was saying was fantastic, terrifying, unreal. To counteract Rachni venom with a jury rigged antidote improvised from pet food supplements, perfume raw material and stain removers – it took resource, knowledge and skill of the highest degree. Very few field agents would have had the ability to do what Shepard had done, and get away with it. Yet, proof of it was the fact that all five of the Asari who had been trapped in the Binary Helix facility had been rescued and brought back alive by the human. Matriarch Thalia pulled herself together with an effort. "If the rest of your story is as interesting as what you told us until now... Please Shepard. Continue."

"I had Liara contact one of Matriarch Benezia's students. This woman, a researcher in microbiology, assured Liara that she would make sure that the Asari would be ready to leave when we gave the word. She warned us that their situation precluded fighting, though. It was lucky that we had the time and the resources to determine how to get there. Getting past the Geth and the Rachni was no easy feat. Tali and I had prepared for that though and the results are obvious."

Matriarch Thalia nodded. That agreed with what her agents had reported.

"I returned to Port Hanshan, then. You see, I was worried about the Noveria Board's decision about the Binary Helix facility. The last thing I wanted was for them to vote to destroy the Binary Helix facility before I was ready to move. So I arranged for a distraction by providing a Noveria Internal Affairs agent with information about the corruption of the Port Hanshan administrator, Anoleis. This was something that had come to my notice, and I found a use for it. With the board preoccupied with the corruption of the administrator, they would be unlikely to focus on Binary Helix."

Yes, they had done that very efficiently indeed, thought Matriarch Thalia. What the three had done was recover the data from Manager Lorik Qui'in's Synthetic Insights office proving Administrator Anoleis' corruption, without firing a shot. The Matriarch's daughter had played a damsel in distress and had caused a loud scene, while the Quarian had triggered a fire alarm, distracting everyone. While the ERCS guards were distracted by the other two, Shepard had sneaked in, and activated the close circuit cameras that had been disabled by the Port Hanshan police, recording the irregularities perpetrated by the police itself, and recovered Lorik Qui'in's evidence as well. Then he had persuaded Qui'in to testify against Anoleis and sold his evidence to a Noveria internal affairs agent named Gianna Parasini.

"Goddess!" breathed both Councillor Tevos and Matriarch Artemisia, while Tela Vasir growled, "You distracted me as well."

There was a slightly amused smile on Shepard's lips. "I did nothing of the sort. You let yourself be distracted."

The others looked confused, and Matriarch Thalia spoke quietly, "Perhaps you could explain, Commander Shepard?"

"There's not much to explain, really. You may remember the original evidence connecting Matriarch Benezia to Saren and the Geth? I left it with a police sergeant in Noveria." He turned to Vasir, "Why, by the way, did you kill that sergeant?"

"Who says she was killed?" growled Vasir.

Shepard sighed and reached into an inside pocket, and extracted a small datapad. He pushed it towards the Asari spectre. "You wanted to know how I know about Sergeant Stirling being killed? I can read – that is why. That's Noveria's latest news."

"I never killed her!" Tela Vasir defended.

"Didn't you? Well, it is certainly fortuitous for us that the evidence connecting Benezia to the Geth has been recovered by you and is safe." Although Shepard had spoken in a very mild tone, his words could not have been more provocative.

"She was a corrupt cop," returned Vasir firmly.

"Why did you leave that evidence with a corrupt cop, Shepard?" questioned Matriarch Thalia.

Shepard answered readily, "Precisely because no one would suspect her. And I have enough leverage over her to ensure that she will not double cross me."

"What happened next, Shepard?" queried Councillor Tevos.

"Not much more to explain, ma'am." Shepard replied with a weary smile. "We struck at Binary Helix then. One good thing that the shutting down of the VI had done was that it had also snapped all satellite links with the outer world. That meant that the Geth were cut off from the commune, and more vulnerable to us. Tali and I came up with a useful hacking program. I restored the satellite link and broadcast the hacking program at full power, through the satellite transmissions. The Geth systems were completely scrambled by our program. Then it was simply a matter of shooting the disoriented Geth and getting into the main centre. There, I initiated the neutron purge via the VI to destroy all the Rachni in the main facility."

Matriarch Thalia nodded inwardly. Yes, the Asari technicians were examining the dead Geth in Noveria, and what Shepard said agreed with what they were finding. The Geth had been submerged in the software equivalent of a fog – their sensors had been inundated by a sea of noise, combined with spurious virus attacks on their core systems, hugely reducing their processing power, while altering the power requirements of different subsystems, causing catastrophic overloads for the Geth. In effect, the Geth had been reduced to mindless hulks by the program, and with those accursed synthetics cut off from the commune, she could well believe that they were unable to recover before being executed by the trio. However, with an effort, she pulled herself out of her thoughts and listened to Shepard's explanation.

"After that, we hopped on the tram to get to the Rift station. Once there, given the Matriarch's disposition – she was constantly veering between tentative cooperation with her Asari students and outright hostility under Saren's influence – we decided to take no chances. We used the same program against the Geth, and pumped in a home-brewed knock out aerosol into the ventilation systems to render everyone – Rachni, scientists and the Asari – unconscious."

Matriarch Thalia grimly reflected that Shepard had been nothing but extremely thorough. He had pumped in one of the methylfentanyl variants dissolved in a halothane base to create an aerosol – a combination that was a hundred times more powerful than the equivalent amount of morphine – into the Rift station. In the confined space of the labs and the med-bays, everyone would have been knocked unconscious in less than a couple of minutes, well before they realised that they were being incapacitated. The intriguing part was that Shepard had likely improvised methylfentanyl from piperidine – a common industrial solvent.

Shepard continued, "I then broadcast the all clear signal, executed the remaining Rachni, got hold of the Matriarch and her students, and left with them on the Matriarch's ship. We flew to to Yelburgi – a small settlement three hours flying time away – and transferred to a chartered ship to Thessia."

"You flew to Yelburgi! How did you get the Matriarch's shuttle flying?" The exclamation had come from Tela Vasir.

Shepard answered, "The engine of the Matriarch's shuttle had frozen solid in the cold, yes, but Tali was able to make some repairs and modifications to get the ship airborne once more."

A flying miracle, grunted Thalia to herself. That was what the stunned mechanics who had examined the ship had said. The young Quarian had foraged in the Binary Helix spares and patched in a pair of engines originally designed for Mantis attack gunships into the bay of a D34 transport shuttle.

"Why did you not return to Port Hanshan, Commander?" inquired Tevos.

"I judged it safer not to return to Port Hanshan."

"What do you mean by that?" inquired Artemisia.

"It is quite possible that my raid would become known once the Geth started dying in the Binary Helix research centre. Many Geth carried small portable transmitters, capable of reaching Port Hanshan. It was possible that some of Saren's minions might be in Port Hanshan and try to intercept me. With several non-combatants, and wounded in my care, it would be very stupid to look for a fight. I considered it more prudent to fly to Yelburgi."

The Matriarchs and the Councillor glanced at each other, and the Councillor broached the most important topic, "About those Rachni ..."

"They won't be a problem anymore, ma'am," replied Shepard grimly. "They have been dealt with."

"But who …," began Matriarch Artemisia ...

Shepard drew a small OSD from his tunic and tossed it towards Tela Vasir, "This contains a record of all transmissions to and from the Binary Helix facility to Cerberus. It seems that they were breeding Rachni for their own purposes!"

"Cerberus!" all the others in the room growled.

"What can you tell us about this group, Commander?" queried Councillor Tevos.

"Not much, I am afraid," replied Shepard. "Nothing you don't already probably know. They are a supposed terrorist group, who put human dominance of the galaxy above all else. They have a penchant for utterly unethical science experiments, and have perverted science for their own ends plenty of times. They were once a black ops group of the Alliance, and have since gone rogue – or so it is said."

"Do you doubt it?" The question had come from Matriarch Thalia.

Shepard shrugged, "They certainly have very powerful protectors in the Alliance. If they had truly gone rogue, it is doubtful they would be so protected. My own theory is that they do useful favours for the Alliance, and are consequently, protected. But not everything done by Cerberus is approved by the Alliance, and most of the Alliance officials and soldiers are truly ignorant of Cerberus and its connections to the Alliance. Therefore, when something ghastly done by Cerberus comes to light, they can honestly deny any knowledge of it. In fact, among the intelligence staff and special forces, Cerberus is particularly despised."

"Why is Cerberus despised?" inquired the spectre.

"For the same reason Spectres are disliked by C-Sec," replied Shepard with a weary smile. "Cerberus plays fast and loose with every rule and protocol, leaving colossal messes for us to clean up or explain."

"So, if we were to produce this evidence against Cerberus to the Alliance …," began Councillor Tevos.

"It is unlikely anything much would come of it," answered Shepard, completing her sentence. "They will deny all knowledge of Cerberus experiments with the Rachni. Probably truthfully. But they certainly are not likely to go after Cerberus."

Matriarch Thalia signalled to the others and they all obeyed. Councillor Tevos and Matriarch Artemisia once more congratulated Shepard on safely recovering the Matriarch and her students, and left, along with Tela Vasir. Only Matriarch Thalia remained. She walked to the window, and smoothly pulled a listening device off the curtains in one hand. Without missing a beat, she dropped it on the ground and stomped on it. "Now we can talk freely," she smiled. "I take it you recognised me?"

Shepard nodded, "Head of Armali's intelligence for the last ninety five years. A privilege to meet you, ma'am." It was easy to see that Shepard meant it.

She smiled at Shepard and it was a very warm and admiring smile. "You are good, Shepard. Very good indeed. You not only managed to do the impossible and get Benezia out without arousing any suspicion, you also managed to outwit everyone else here today." Her lips quirked in amusement. "Not only that but you also managed to put one over Tela Vasir. I doubt any of my own agents could do that."

"I don't think Vasir liked that," replied Shepard.

"No. No, I don't think she did. But really, Shepard – what she likes is immaterial. But tell me – did you deliberately set up that police sergeant on Noveria to be killed?"

"Sergeant Stirling? No. I don't work like that," Shepard shook his head. "I intended for Vasir to buy that evidence. Stirling was corrupt and a mercenary. I knew Vasir was having me shadowed, so I made sure that my tails knew I had handed over the evidence connecting the Geth to Benezia to Stirling. I expected them to run back to Vasir and tell her what had happened, and Vasir to buy that evidence."

"Why did you do that?"

"Two reasons. First, I wanted to get Vasir off my back. If she found out that that evidence was with a corrupt cop, she would run to secure it, leaving me free to do what I needed to do. Second, that evidence was once a weapon in my armoury. Now, its utility had been expended, and it was a weapon against me. I wanted to get rid of that evidence as quickly as possible and what better way than to dispose of it in a fashion that would aid my cause?"

Shepard continued, speaking almost to himself, "Still Vasir's ruthlessness relieves me of an embarrassing problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I bullied that corrupt sergeant to do me a favour using the footage of her activities in the Synthetic Insights office. I intended for Vasir to pay for that favour, by buying that evidence. For aiding me, that sergeant would get her reward, with Vasir paying for it. For being corrupt, I would have exposed her to Maeko Matsuo. That would be her punishment for her corruption. In the longer run, it is more important to keep faith with Maeko Matsuo than with that pathetic corrupt bully of a sergeant."

Thalia seemed taken aback at the ruthlessness of the human. She collected herself enough to inquire, "What favour did the sergeant do for you?" inquired Matriarch Thalia.

"I persuaded her to let me have physical access to their satellite targeting systems." answered Shepard.

"Why?"

"You remember I told you about the Board being able to destroy the facility if it needed?" Seeing the Matriarch's nod, Shepard continued, "Did you never wonder how they proposed to destroy it?"

The Matriarch looked questioningly at him, and the human explained, "They planned to fire an antimatter warhead from one of the battle stations, guided by the satellites. I accessed the targeting systems, removed the targeting radio frequency crystal, and left it on the table. Even if they put it back, they would need several hours to re-calibrate the targeting systems, before it could be used. More than enough time for me to get in and out of the Binary Helix facility."

"But the board was already occupied with that corrupt administrator ..." began Matriarch Thalia, before the answer flashed to her. "You feared that Vasir might make murderous use of the battle systems?"

"I was not going to leave it to chance," replied Shepard grimly. "I'd be a fool to do so."

Thalia nodded. She remarked, "You have told me everything. But why did you want to rescue Benezia at all?"

"I told you, she is a friend of humanity ..."

"All that is true, but that is not the real reason, is it?" Thalia's voice was very quiet and firm.

"What other reason could there be, Matriarch?" echoed Shepard.

"Think once more, Shepard. It is best to be frank with me."

"I have said all I have to say," replied Shepard equally quietly.

"Very well, then," smiled the Matriarch. "I shall tell you your reason. Let us speculate that Rachni breeding project was not a Cerberus project – at least, not originally. It was an Alliance project, and your mother, being the head of secret Alliance science projects, was probably responsible for it. But after the Rachni were bred, it was either taken over by Cerberus, or perhaps even handed over to Cerberus. However, there was still evidence connecting the Alliance with the project. When you found out that Benezia was at the Binary Helix facilities, you were horrified. You already knew about the Rachni breeding project. At all costs, the evidence connecting the Alliance to the project had to be eliminated. Therefore, I suspect, you played a masterly charade. You were never interested in Saren and your subsequent actions bear that out – you were content to leave that part of the investigations to the Alliance. It is also why you – ah, rescued – Liara T'Soni. You wanted some leverage against Benezia if she had not already fed us the information about the Alliance involvement with the Rachni. With Liara in your hands, you came to us with the evidence connecting Benezia to Saren, played the part of a traitor and a renegade officer, got us to sponsor your infiltration of Binary Helix to rescue Benezia. While fulfilling our task, you could and did also accomplish your own objectives. Now, with the evidence pointing at Cerberus, the Alliance is safe, and only Cerberus will be blamed! How close is my guess?"

Shepard had remained immobile and stony while Thalia expounded her theory. He answered slowly, "It is conjecture. There is nothing to establish it."

"Of course," smiled Matriarch Thalia. "That is the whole point. If there were still genuine evidence connecting the Rachni to the Alliance, your mission would be a failure!"

"All this is pointless," replied Shepard coldly, his voice soft and terrible. "Such conjecture is idle – fruitless and dangerous. For instance, Matriarch, it is possible to speculate that Lady Benezia did not join Saren of her own accord. Asari matriarchs of her stature do not risk their lives, reputations, and liberties on a whim or a wild goose chase. Let us conjecture that the Asari knew something of what Saren was up to. They wished to turn him away from that path. The Asari are the past masters of this game – cultivating capable figures from other races, influencing them to think in the Asari way, or at least, be tolerant of Asari interests. One might conjecture that Benezia joined Saren precisely because it was an Asari intelligence operation. And Lady Benezia is the agent of influence par excellence, and has no rival in that field. When I came to you with my offer, it was a godsend for you. You were in a fix with Benezia trapped inside Binary Helix, neither able to rescue her, nor openly destroy her. After all, it is bad form to throw one's own agents to the wolves – it would be devastating to the morale of the other agents. When I offered to get Benezia out of the Binary Helix facility, it served your own interests. You were content to let me try to rescue her, with no risks for you, before you had recourse to more ruthless means. And Vasir was following me all the time, because, if I failed, it would be necessary to obliterate any evidence connecting Benezia to Saren. Am I close to the truth, ma'am?"

Thalia had stood rock still during the exposition. She gazed at Shepard for a long moment, and broke into soft applause. "Magnificent, Shepard! Magnificent, indeed! Whether your guess is true or not, you are the perfect foil for any agent! You can put any Asari matriarch to shame with your deviousness!"

-(Author's Notes)-

Some head spinning conspiracies and plots from all sides. All sides playing with the truth. All of them tell the truth, and often nothing but the truth, but no one tells the entire truth. Partial truths are more useful in obscuring the full truth than any lie.

Also, I am emphasising Shepard's strengths in this chapter. He prefers to fight with science when he has to fight at all, and is a fantastic improviser. So, by the way, is Tali. That is why the two will get along very well. One major change I made with the game is that I got rid of the Geth on the road to Binary Helix – it is a little too much to expect that anyone would be able to smuggle in colossi and armatures, not to mention cannon towers.

Do guess where the idea of pumping methylfentanyl into the ventilation systems comes from. Hint: It was done in 2002.

I am surprised that none of my German readers picked up the reference to Colonel General Johannes Blaskowitz, who was protesting the _Einsatzgruppen _atrocities in Poland. His protests were what Shepard's memo was based on.

Coming up next – Shepard gets an offer from the Asari.

As usual, all comments are welcome.


	8. The Background Check

**The Candidate – 8**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect. It belongs to Bioware and Drew Karpyshyn. I am merely playing in their universe.

**The Background Check**

There was a long silence after the Matriarch applauded the young human on his perspicuity. Both of them were staring at each other, even while neither of them moved, both taking the measure of the other. Shepard had been terrified by the Asari Matriarch's ability to see through all his schemes with almost contemptuous ease. He had always expected that the head of Armali's intelligence to be a formidable character, but he had never expected someone like Matriarch Thalia. But he supposed that if one kept doing the same thing for six hundred years, playing all these mind games day in and day out, then it was unsurprising that one would be exceptionally good at it. Well, he had played his game and had succeeded at it. It mattered little what she did now.

On the other hand, the Matriarch was impressed by Shepard's ability to circumvent obstacles, and achieve his objectives without calling attention to himself. She bore him no grudge for playing the other Matriarchs and the Spectre with his half truths. He would be a useful figure to cultivate. Her mind was already abuzz with plans and ideas for him.

It was Shepard who broke the silence, "So what happens now, Matriarch?"

"We shall speak of that later," replied the Matriarch. "For now, you should focus on regaining your strength. You must be tired."

Shepard reflected that if the Matriarch intended to have him killed for figuring out the truth regarding Benezia, there was not much he could do about it. Here, he was in the heart of the Asari territory, and he had no doubt that he was being watched every moment. Perhaps Vasir would even volunteer to do the honours, if the Asari decided that he had to be removed. With an internal effort, he pulled himself out of his bleak reflections. The only way he could get out of the mess was by convincing the Asari that he was genuinely on their side. Or at least, a benign creature, who need not be feared. And for that, he needed …..

Shepard gave the Matriarch five minutes and then slipped leisurely into civilian clothes. That done, he walked out of the ward into the corridor, and into the nurses station. He asked politely, "Ma'am, can you please tell me where Lady Benezia's ward is? And is she receiving visitors?"

The nurse looked at a register, and replied, "She is in ward E47. I don't know whether she can receive visitors."

"Thank you, ma'am," bowed Shepard. He leisurely strolled towards the ward mentioned, his eyes watchful and wary as ever.

-(Scene Break)-

Matriarch Thalia did not waste time. When she emerged from the military hospital, her staff skycar was already waiting for her. Ten minutes later, she was in her office, and the case officer, Amira Aduon, who had been assigned to looking up Shepard's background was standing before her.

Matriarch Thalia did not waste time. "What did you gather about him, other than what was given to the Council?"

Amira answered, "I went back to his school days. He was, as his file claimed, an extraordinarily gifted student, winning several prizes for his capabilities in mathematics, computer algorithms and, surprisingly, chemistry. I also interviewed his biotics tutor. Both his teachers' evaluations and his biotics tutor agree on two things. First, that despite his phenomenal talents, he never called any attention to himself, being quiet, with perfect manners, and a mild, inoffensive exterior, and was always self effacing. In school, he was called `_das Gespenst' –_ the ghost. He was already on his way to becoming a extraordinarily good agent. Further, according to his biotics tutor, Matron Irissa, his parents pushed him to the limits of his endurance and abilities, and he came through it successfully. The result is that he became extraordinarily self reliant, independent, thorough and resourceful. He graduated from high school at seventeen, went to university earning himself a master's degree in computer science with a thesis on mathematical evaluation of non-harmonic coherent states. After that, despite several lucrative corporate offers, he went on to join Alliance Naval Technical Intelligence, and has worked for them for the last seven years. It was really rare for them to get someone of his skills, so he was regarded as something of a prize catch, and was groomed for a high post in the Technical Intelligence."

At this, Amira looked up at her superior, and Matriarch Thalia gestured to her to proceed. The younger Asari continued, "There he has led three major operations, as his file to the Council details. His first was his position as the leader of the team in charge of the enemy communications blackout on Torfan during the Alliance raid on that moon. As you know, he accomplished it superbly – even the Salarians were surprised by its thoroughness, and were unable to get details of the attack or the events inside. That, by the way, is one reason even we have very little information on what exactly happened during the attack. However, we do know two things. As you know, the Alliance soldiers perpetrated many atrocities in the campaign. Shepard went about stopping them as best as he could, in between his intelligence duties. At first, he complained to his superiors about the `ungentlemanly behaviour', as he put it. But, when his complaints had no effect, he acted on his own. In his free time, he often went around the battle lines, at great personal risk to himself, to help the wounded and the prisoners."

Amira continued, "I spoke to a couple of Asari doctors, who were stuck on Torfan at the time. They were trapped in their hotel basement, which served as a makeshift hospital, and they were treating the wounded Batarian soldiers. This is precisely what one of them had to say." She switched on a portable holo-vid player.

_The door burst open and a bunch of Alliance soldiers rushed in. Seeing the two wounded Batarian soldiers, the older soldier – a sergeant – barked harshly, "More Batarian bastards! Out with them, my lads!"_

_The two Batarians on the sleeping bags on the floor merely looked resigned, while my sister stepped in front of the Batarian soldiers. "Officer, in the name of decency! They're in no condition to be moved!"_

_The sergeant seemed amused with the protest. "For fuck's sake, blue! D'you think it is for the benefit of their health we're taking them?"_

"_What do you plan to do with them?" I demanded._

_The sergeant looked indifferently at me. "No business of yours!"_

"_It's my business," I returned. "They're my patients."_

"_They won't be for much longer," returned the soldier grimly. "Where are their IDs?"_

_My sister pointed to the side table where we had put all their identification and other possessions. The sergeant nodded to one of the soldiers to get them, while he tried to step around my sister to get to the wounded Batarian soldiers, but she blocked him again. He shoved her aside, sending her stumbling back, and reached down to savagely yank up one of the wounded Batarian soldiers by the bunched folds of the shirt, ignoring his hiss of pain. _

_He looked at the Batarian for a long moment, slapped him twice, open handed and back handed, and then flung him contemptuously towards his men. He approached the Batarian, rubbing his fists, even as his men held the Batarian back by his arms. But the Batarian, sensing that something sinister was intended, lashed out with his feet at the sergeant, catching him squarely in the gut. The Alliance soldier gave a dismal groan, and doubled up in agony. However, the other humans had grabbed the Batarian and I held my breath for the inevitable disaster, even as my sister was protesting something. At that moment, another figure, a tall, spare human, appeared in the doorway. He was dressed in a clean and well pressed Alliance uniform, his polished boots reflecting the overhead light, a total contrast from the ragged, battle stained appearance of the others. A solid pair of glasses framed his cold black eyes, and two heavy solid bars enclosing a thinner bar on his sleeve announced his rank – that of a lieutenant. He took in everything in a glance – the manhandled Batarian in the hands of the Alliance soldiers, the groaning sergeant, the cowering Asari, and the other injured Batarian on the sleeping bag. There were no questions, no exclamations of surprise, or demands for explanations. Two long strides, and he had reached the sergeant, whom he hauled up to his feet, ignoring his gasps of agony and white face. Then he spoke, his cold, hard voice scarcely more than a whisper, "Idiot! When you interrogate a prisoner, you stand clear of his feet!"_

_The sergeant stood unsteadily, still grunting from agony. The officer spoke, "Who are these?" The inclination of the head indicated the Batarians._

"_Filthy Batarian bastards!" grunted the sergeant._

"_Naturally!" smiled the officer. "All Batarians are filthy bastards!" There was an undercurrent of irony in his voice. "But I don't want your opinion. What are their names?"_

"_We don't know, sir. We're just getting their dog tags." It was one of the other soldiers who answered him._

"_Give them to me, sergeant."_

"_They're there," wheezed the sergeant, indicating the side table. He was still struggling to stand upright._

"_Give them to me, sergeant." The request, in tone, inflection, and in every way, was a carbon copy of the first. Yet the sergeant obeyed him with alacrity._

_For a long moment, the officer looked at the dog tags. "Excellent! Excellent, indeed! These are our men!"_

"_Your men!" demanded the sergeant. "What the hell do you mean?"_

_The officer simply fixed the sergeant with one of his pitiless, icy stares. The older human almost seemed to shrink before the glance. "I have my rare moments of generosity. We will forget for now what you said and how you said it."_

"_But, sir, ..." began one of the other soldiers._

"_I'll ask the questions here, if you don't mind," murmured the officer silkily. "What else did you find?"_

"_Nothing, sir. We've had no time to search."_

"_Good! I need to interview these Batarians. You and your men will kindly leave!"_

"_But …," began the sergeant._

"_Do you have an objection, sergeant?" The voice was a soft, deadly whisper._

"_I only thought ..," _

_Cold, cutting anger was in the officer's voice. "Who besought you to think? Leave it to those capable of such feats!" He produced a wallet from his pocket, and displayed an identification from it. "Enough authority to take charge of your prisoners?"_

"_Yes, sir!" The sergeant and his soldiers saluted and departed, leaving us alone with the officer and the two Batarian prisoners. _

_Once the other soldiers were gone, the officer turned towards us and spoke, not kindly, but with an icily repressed anger. "Are you alright?"_

_My sister murmured, "Yes, thank you."_

_He spoke sharply, "Your patients. Do they need anything?"_

"_Antibiotics," replied my sister unsteadily. "We are out of them."_

"_I can get you some from the Alliance Medical Services," nodded the officer. "Please write down what you need, and I'll see what I can do."_

_He then wrote a letter stating that we were both treating Batarian prisoners wanted by Alliance Intelligence. He signed it, and stamped it with his official seal, and handed it to us. He spoke quietly, "If you find any more wounded Batarians, get them here. You should be able to treat them here without being molested. And if you need any food, or medical supplies, let me know. There'll be a guard outside, who can help you contact me."_

"_But I thought these two were …," began my sister, before the truth dawned on us. The officer was using this masquerade to spare the Batarians from the horrible fate that would possibly overtake them in the hands of the victorious Alliance soldiers._

_The officer spoke quietly and firmly, "The fighting is over, ma'am, but the devilry is just beginning. Keep yourself inside, and don't leave the building unless it is an emergency."_

Matriarch Thalia leant back in her chair as the holo-vid ended. "Interesting," she muttered.

"It surprised me," admitted Amira. "I had never figured him for a bleeding heart."

"I wonder now," murmured Matriarch Thalia.

"Ma'am?"

"One thing I found out today is that the smallest of Shepard's actions are directed towards some practical end. He is, simply put, the single most icily calculating and ruthlessly focussed bastard I've ever come across." There was a moment of silence, and then the Matriarch made a gesture of dismissal. "So what else did you figure out, Amira?" she inquired.

"While his performance of his official duties during the campaign was brilliant and acknowledged as such, he also outraged his superiors by recommending action against several officers and soldiers for war crimes. Consequently, he was bundled off to an assignment that put him well away from other Alliance departments and officers. His job was to build up intelligence links with the colonies in the Traverse. Left there, and assigned only a small budget, and a smaller staff, with sheer dint of merit and cold grit, he has turned it into one of the largest intelligence brokerages in the Traverse."

Matriarch Thalia's lips curled slightly. Yes, that defined Shepard well and what little she had seen of him had only encouraged that impression. There were, she knew, two types of agents. The old agents, and the bold ones. There were rarely any old and bold agents. Those that existed in the latter category were usually the elite and more importantly, lucky, survivalists. Shepard, it appeared, was one of the latter.

"What about his personal life?" demanded the Matriarch.

For the first time, Amira hesitated. Her superior queried, "He keeps his personal life so well hidden?"

"No, nothing like that," returned the younger Asari. "It is just that his personal life does not seem to exist at all."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing we, or even the Salarians have been able to discover. I used all our leverage with the Salarians, and even they came up blank. But there seems no one in his life. No girlfriend, close friend, hobby, or even a pet. There is no picture of anyone in his flat, which contains only the most basic essentials. He lives alone, surrounded by his computers, his nanoelectronics, his books, and his chemicals. There is almost nothing to show he even has a personal side. He seems to be an intellectual ascetic."

"Almost?" The Matriarch had caught the qualification.

"He talks to his parents once in a few months. He also gets a birthday card every year from someone who signs it `M'."

"Who is this `M'?"

"No idea, ma'am.," replied Amira.

The Matriarch ordered, "Keep an eye on him while he is here."

The younger Asari bowed and departed.

-(Scene Break)-

Liara and Tali, along with one of Matriarch Benezia's students who had been rescued from Noveria, were sitting in the visiting room of the wards, when Shepard strolled in. He stood just a couple of paces away from the group, and his voice was gentle as he spoke, "How is the Matriarch? And the other students?"

The entire group turned to face the newcomer. Shepard saw that the Prothean researcher had been crying, and her eyes were bleary and bloodshot. The others remained quiet, but Liara answered, "We don't know."

"Don't know?"

"The doctors have not been able to find out what's wrong with her." She wrung her hands in worry. "She just seems to alternate between …."

What she would have said became academic as the other Asari laid a warning hand on her arm. Shepard smiled, a trifle sadly, thought Tali. "Your wariness is understandable, Dr. Iallis. But it is also superfluous. I already know what she alternates between."

All three of his interlocutors were surprised. "How do you know?" demanded Alestia Iallis.

Shepard replied calmly, "When the Binary Helix VI was restored, I used it to activate the surveillance cameras in all the labs. Before I had Dr. T'Soni contact you, I knew exactly how much the Asari had suffered and how badly affected the Matriarch was."

"You spied on them? You knew about my mother? And yet you didn't tell me?" There was righteous indignation and astonishment in Liara's voice.

"Tell you what, Doctor? The she curses Saren at times, and then proclaims her undying loyalty to him?" There was gentle remonstrance in Shepard's voice. "What would that have conveyed to you?" When neither of the Asari replied, Shepard shrugged, "I was hoping she might recover from her ordeal before you saw her. Her suffering was private and not right for another to intrude on. If it were not for the necessity of planning the rescue, I should not have pried into it."

Liara returned forcefully, "I deserved to know."

"Perhaps you are right, Doctor. But I wished you could avoid having to see her thus."

"So you say," returned Alestia suspiciously. "We've no reason to believe you. After all, it was humans conducting the rachni breeding programme! You could just have been interested in it!"

"If that were my reason, there would be no need to rescue you. I could have just killed you all and returned to Alliance space!"

"And how could a single human have killed half a dozen well trained and armed Asari commandos?" demanded Alestia incredulously.

"I pumped in methylfentanyl into the ventilation systems. I could have pumped in prussic acid [1]. I assure you – none of you would have survived."

There was dead silence at that pronouncement.

"We have other matters to worry about, right now," sighed Shepard, breaking the pause.

"Such as?" inquired Liara.

"Ourselves and the Matriarch," returned Shepard firmly. After a moment's pause, he continued, "So they cannot figure out what was done to the Matriarch or the other Asari?"

Dr. Iallis looked defeated, as she answered, "No."

Liara and Alestia exchanged a glance, and then Liara began tremulously, "Shepard, when people find out about my mother ..."

"I don't think you need concern yourself about that. If it comes to that, I can give it out to the press that the Matriarch and her students have been injured in an accident. I am very certain that I can persuade Matriarch Artemisia and Councillor Tevos will go along with that story. No connection need be made to Saren. In fact, I will be surprised if the Councillor or the Matriarchs don't suggest that."

"But, Shepard, people will know about Binary Helix and my mother ..."

"How?" questioned Shepard. "The only ones who know can say anything authoritatively are we four, apart from Tela Vasir, the Asari Councillor, and a couple of Matriarchs here. They dare not say anything about it, because if they accuse your mother, Liara, they will essentially be accusing Armali itself of being an accessory in what the Matriarch was doing." He continued, "No, no – in this matter, they can do nothing publicly. The only danger we have to fear is covert action to silence us."

Both the Asari and the Quarian were completely flummoxed by this statement. "What do you mean?"

Shepard questioned, "You don't know that they had sent an Asari spectre – Tela Vasir – to kill the Matriarch if she could not be rescued?"

"What?"

"Oh yes!" nodded Shepard. "Tela Vasir was shadowing us – Tali, Liara and myself – all the time in Noveria. If we failed to get the Matriarch out safely, Vasir was to eliminate all evidence of the Matriarch, along with us!"

"But – but why, Shepard?" blurted out Tali.

"The business with Saren is explosive," sighed Shepard. "A former councillor of Armali providing an alibi for a large scale attack on a Prothean beacon and the symbol of human colonisation puts the government of Armali in a very delicate situation. If the Matriarch could not be recovered without arousing suspicion, they would prefer to eliminate all evidence that connects Armali to Saren. That is why there were no Asari assigned to help us on Noveria. They could not afford to be seen having anything to do with the Matriarch."

The others were gaping at him, as he continued quietly, "All this was before the knowledge of the association with the rachni became evident. Can you imagine the reaction if it became known that one of the foremost Matriarchs of Armali was involved in an exercise involving breeding rachni? Or torturing a rachni queen for information."

"But she has been rescued, now," pointed out Liara.

"Aye," nodded Shepard. "And we cannot talk either, without accusing ourselves of being accessories in the Matriarch's deeds, several counts of trespassing and breaking and entering, possession of illegal substances, and vandalism on a rather large scale." There was a slight smile on Shepard's lips. "However, the danger to Armali is much more serious, though. So – they have two options. Bribe us or silence us. I don't know what they will choose. I fear I might have increased the danger for you, though."

"Why so?"

"If I had informed the Alliance of what was happening in Noveria, we would be safer. It would be pointless to silence us, if the Alliance already knew the entire truth," replied Shepard.

"You have not told them?" The surprised question had come from Liara.

"No, of course not!"

"Why not?"

"Because once I told the Alliance, it would be impossible to protect the Matriarch," pointed out Shepard. "She would be vilified, and her reputation ruined." There was a moment's silence, and then Shepard continued, "If there is one thing my job has taught me, it is discretion. Indiscretion can kill much more effectively than anything else."

Then Alestia Iallis came to her conclusion. "You hint at a bargain," she remarked.

Shepard closed his eyes. It was really tiring to deal with these suspicious, callow Asari. "I hint at something to give. Something, that, I have already freely given." Seeing the sceptical looks, he replied, "You doubt my sincerity? There is no reason to. What can it profit me to rake up a scandal against a woman who is incapable of defending herself, dooming myself at the same time?" He continued, "No one else needs to know. That is also why I erased the entire footage of the Matriarch's lab from the VI before we left Noveria. Which reminds me." He reached into his tunic and produced an OSD. "The originals of the Binary Helix surveillance videos. If you are wise, you will destroy it. Without this proof, no one can convict the Matriarch of anything without our evidence."

The two Asari were staring agape at the human, who was offering to cover up for them all. Liara voiced the question of both the Asari, "Why are you doing this, Shepard?"

"Quite apart from the fact that I gave you my word that I would help your mother, you mean?" Seeing her nod, he continued, "First, I really admire the Matriarch's attempts to stop Saren. It was fantastic – inspired! To walk into the power of such a dangerous creature as Saren and try to turn him away from his destructive path – it requires courage, calculation and resource. Also a willingness to put herself in danger. All these are admirable qualities. I would not damn a woman for trying to stop a monster."

"But it backfired! It's left her …." Liara was almost in tears.

Shepard looked kindly at her. "That is not to be held against her. In all honesty, I don't think anyone realised just what kinds of powers Saren wields. No one could have foreseen that Saren had discovered a way to dominate the minds of others."

"So what other reasons did you have?" inquired Alestia.

"The Matriarch is a very influential diplomat," replied Shepard. "Helping her get out of this mess would be a great way to build bridges with the Asari. And we humans need allies. Already we have alienated too many. It will not have escaped you that we are seen as too grasping, too pushy, and too reckless?" The other three nodded. "What better way than to show that we can be trusted than by helping an influential Matriarch? We cannot expect allies if we're simply too caught up in our own self interest. We must be ready to put something on the table."

"And those were your only reasons?" asked Alestia.

"What other reasons could I have?"

There were sombre silence at this, as Shepard continued, "There is not much we can do for now, whatever their intentions. We are all prisoners in this hospital ..."

"Prisoners?"

"Aye," nodded Shepard. "Try to leave now, and you will be politely told at the gates that you must return to the hospital to renew your strength and must wait until you are discharged by the doctors. "

Shepard looked at the others and they were all hanging on to his every word. `Good,' he thought. 'They are now eating out of my hands.' Aloud he continued, "For now, we cannot do much. We just need to keep our eyes and ears open. For as long as we are alive, they will not dare harm the Matriarch."

"Why?"

"Because their own downfall must immediately follow, if the Matriarch is killed and we are alive to publish the fact! We could tell the entire truth, and that is something that they will not have. So we must plan on staying alive, while seeing what we can do for the Matriarch."

-(Author's Notes)-

[1] – Prussic Acid is the common name for hydrocyanic acid, or hydrogen cyanide, as it is sometimes called. A variant of it, zyklon-B, was used to murder millions in gas chambers in World War 2.

Well, this was a hard chapter for me to write. A bit of Shepard's background, and Shepard's own planning and scheming. I had promised the information about the rachni queen. That will come in the next chapter.

Congratulations to the commenter `Janizary'. He was the first to figure out the methylfentanyl source. It was used by the Russian authorities to incapacitate the Chechen terrorists in the Moscow theatre crisis in 2002.


	9. The Asari Offer

**The Candidate – 9**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Mass Effect. It belongs to Bioware and Drew Karpyshyn. I am merely playing in their universe.

**The Asari Offer**

What Shepard would have suggested became academic at this point as the public announcement system in the hospital flared into life. "Commander Shepard, you are requested to report to the Reception."

Shepard looked at the others. "Well, we shall continue this discussion later. I shall bid you goodbye for the moment." The others nodded slowly, and Shepard, having wrapped his shawl round his shoulders, quietly, unhurriedly retraced his steps back to the entrance of the hospital. Two Asari law enforcement officers in uniform were waiting for him there. One of them flashed her badge and spoke firmly, "Commander, please follow us. Your presence is desired." There was no question of disobeying the order, although it had been phrased as a request.

A ten minute ride in their staff car, and Shepard had been ushered into the presence of the formidable head of Armali's intelligence. Matriarch Thalia smiled at him, and waved him into a chair in front of her desk. If Shepard felt any uneasiness at being brought in front of the terrifyingly perceptive mistress of intelligence, he showed none of it. His demeanour was composed and placid as ever. He sat with his fingers laced before him, his expression one of polite inquiry.

The Matriarch waited until the officers who had ushered the Alliance commander in left her office, and began without prelude, "Shepard, you've done things that I would be proud of in any agent of mine. I prize coolness, resourcefulness, initiative and courage in my agents, and you have all these qualities in abundance."

Shepard said nothing, but looked at the Matriarch expectantly. "You have also rescued Matriarch Benezia – a task which I had thought hardly possible and have thus earned my gratitude." Her manner became much more earnest and concerned at this point, as she continued, leaning forward slightly, "But Shepard, you have have made a whole bunch of powerful enemies, who will destroy you if you do not take care."

There was a demure smile on Shepard's lips. "Quite possibly, Matriarch, for they are strong and well supported, while I am alone."

"Yes, that is true," nodded the Matriarch. "But alone as you are, you have already done much and will do much more, I doubt not. You have begun with a flawless career, and with proper guidance, will certainly go far with it."

"I am at the age of extravagant hopes, ma'am." Shepard made a self deprecating gesture, but the Matriarch overrode him. "There are no extravagant hopes, save for fools. Shepard, it is because I admire your abilities that I make you this suggestion. You are one of the Alliance candidates being evaluated for the status of a Spectre, are you not?"

"I was, ma'am, until the attack on Eden Prime. I'm no longer an Alliance officer," reminded Shepard quietly.

The Matriarch refuted, "I have made some inquiries, Shepard, and it seems that your resignation has not been processed by the Alliance. Nor has your name been rescinded from the prospective spectres' list."

"But then …," began Shepard in some puzzlement.

Matriarch Thalia explained, "It is clear that Alenko was supposed to bring in the evidence against Saren, Shepard. To actively ask for an Alliance officer – current or former – to be removed from the prospective Spectres' list would disgrace the Alliance as well, since they had recommended your name in the first place. So, they have made no formal moves to have your name removed."

Shepard nodded, and the Matriarch continued, "Since you have collected all the evidence against Saren on your own initiative and have foiled his plans with regard to the Rachni. I would be most grateful if you would consider becoming a Spectre."

Even as he was taken aback by her offer as he echoed, "Pardonnez moi?", Shepard noted her curious language. For sheer politeness and delicacy, there was little to beat the aristocratic Matriarch of the Intelligence. She had not said `I want you to' or `I am offering', but `I would be most grateful if you would consider'. The Matriarch merely looked steadily at him,

He composed himself as he queried, "Would that even be possible without the support of the Alliance, Matriarch?"

She answered, " I will write a recommendation for you for the Spectre status. With my support and Councillor Tevos' temporary gratitude, I can ensure that you are given the Spectre status. Also, given your achievements of the last few days, I doubt that the Alliance can, or even will, object, whatever their feelings may be."

"May I ask why you suggest my name for Spectre status, Matriarch?" Shepard's voice was gently detached, almost academic, as if the matter they were speaking of was of as little consequence as the day's weather.

"There are three reasons," answered the Matriarch readily. "The first and the foremost is because I genuinely believe that Saren is up to something dangerous. With Benezia out of the picture, we have no information about what he is doing. He needs to be stopped and fast."

"I don't understand. Other Spectres could be sent after him."

Matriarch Thalia returned mildly, "The Council is not particularly concerned to do that, Shepard. Saren was, and still is, their trusted Spectre. Whatever he may have done to a human colony will not weigh heavily against him, I am afraid." That shut Shepard up, and the Matriarch pointed out, "Further, Shepard, Saren is a legend among Spectres. Not many would volunteer, or even agree, to go after him, and many might even help him. The only Spectre that can be sent after Saren is a human one. Even that will be a favour to the Alliance. More a bribe, if you like, to keep the Alliance silent. To openly expose Saren would disgrace the Council too much, and they will not allow it."

"You mentioned three reasons. What are the others?"

"The humans are going to get their Spectre. In this instance, it will be much better for you to be the Spectre, than for Staff Lt. Alenko to be it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Simple. Capability. Shepard, you have gathered all the proof against Saren, and rescued Benezia. What has Staff Lt. Alenko been doing all this time? Obeying his Alliance superiors does not seem to have got him anywhere. Among Spectres, thinking out of the box, initiative and self reliance are highly prized."

Shepard slowly shook his head, "Ma'am, have you considered that I might not be a great candidate for a Spectre?"

"Why would you think that?" Matriarch Thalia's question came like a pistol shot.

"The fact that I lack the usual ruthlessness of the Spectres?" When he saw the Matriarch looking quizzically, he explained, "I've seen how the Spectres operate. Saren, Tela Vasir, and Nihlus Kryik would all have no compunction in killing whoever stood in their way. I am afraid I cannot do that. In fact, I have killed only a few times in my life, and all times have been in self defence. If the Council ordered me to assassinate someone for political purposes, or even a criminal, I should most likely refuse."

Matriarch Thalia nodded, "Yes, and that is my final reason why you are the better candidate, Shepard. What you are describing as the Spectre mode of operation is, in truth, the mode of operation of Spectres who have come from a special forces background. Since the special forces are the most visible and garner most of the glory in every action, they tend to become chosen as Spectres by the Council, which generally chooses Spectres based on the prestige in the career. Most of the intelligence work done cannot even be reported to the Council, nor can they appreciate its rigour or difficulty, so an intelligence officer's career will look decidedly dull when compared to a commando's career to the politicians on the Council. In fact, the last Asari intelligence officer to have become a Spectre was well over a hundred years ago. I doubt it is much different among the Turians. We also already have a number of special forces officers as Spectres. One more is going to do no one any good. On the other hand, a good intelligence officer among the Spectres would be a great benefit to all of us."

Despite the obvious breach of etiquette, Shepard rose from his chair, turned away from the Matriarch and paced up and down the room. It had not escaped him that with Matriarch Thalia recommending him, he would owe the Asari a huge favour and they would be able to capitalise on it. And Shepard was not oblivious to other truths. Once more, he was being handed the poisoned chalice. But the Matriarch's proposal gave him the only chance of life left him. He closed his eyes, prayed to whatever deity that listened, and nodded. "Very well, ma'am. I accept, then."

"Excellent! Let us get to work then!"

-(Scene Break)-

Three days later, Shepard stood in front of the Council on the Citadel, listening as the Asari Councillor intoned, "Commander Shepard, please step forward."

Over his shoulder, Shepard could see several Alliance officers and soldiers gathered in the Council Chamber. Mechanically, as if in a dream, Shepard stepped to the forefront of the audience chamber, listening as the Council preached the virtues of the Spectres and their duties, and finally all the three Councillors finished anointing him a Spectre, and gave him his first task – finding Saren, and bringing him to book.

The Turian Councillor added officiously, "I hope you can find Saren, and fast, Commander Shepard. We at the Council will be keeping a close eye on your progress. In the event that you fail to stop him, I can assure you there will be ... repercussions."

Shepard said nothing, but looked stolidly at Councillor Sparatus.

The Asari Councillor finished, a touch contritely, it seemed to Shepard, "Given the importance of the task, we have decided that we must have regular reports of your progress. Secrecy is essential in this matter, and you have leave to assemble a small team that will track Saren. Once he is located, you will bring him to book if it is possible, or if not, you may take other actions in pursuit of justice."

Shepard nodded, and the Councillors' images disappeared, leaving Shepard staring at the empty space, contemplating the enormity of the task that had just been set him. With an effort, he pulled himself out of his reverie. As he stepped back, he heard a malicious voice behind him, "Congratulations, Commander! You've done well for yourself!"

Shepard did not even need to turn to recognise that voice of the human Ambassador, which vibrated with suppressed fury. He unhurriedly pivoted on his heel observing that Udina, Captain Anderson and the Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams were approaching him. He replied with polite indifference, "You're very gracious, Ambassador."

"It seems that you know which side of the bread is buttered, Commander. You've certainly won the confidence of the Council – or so it appears," remarked the Ambassador, his voice still dripping poison.

"I did what needed to be done, Ambassador. There is nothing else to be said." Shepard's voice was flat and emotionless.

"Of course, of course." Udina smiled a quiet burnt out smile. "I suppose it is too much to ask you to keep the interests of the Alliance in mind when you go off on your escapades? Or even keep us informed of your actions?"

"If the interests of the Alliance required me to inform you, I would have done so." Shepard's voice was chilly.

Udina looked as if he had been slapped. Before he could retort, Captain Anderson intervened, "Congratulations, Commander! The Alliance is very proud of you for achieving this position." Shepard's slight, sardonic smile at the statement brought a flush to Anderson's face. He hurriedly continued, "I've been asked to facilitate your investigation, Shepard."

Shepard looked icily at the three, as the older man explained, "In order to aid your investigation, Commander, I've been empowered to put the _Normandy_ at your disposal, along with its crew. The Alliance is being very generous, as you will perceive."

"I am very grateful for the generosity of the Alliance, Captain, but as you will understand, it is unnecessary." Shepard's voice was frostily detached and academic, as he proceeded, "The _Normandy_ can do nothing for me at the moment. We are beginning an investigation, not a pursuit. When the time comes for me to go chasing after Saren, I will requisition the aid of the Alliance. My investigations will have to begin here on the Citadel, and the only thing I need is to connect to the rest of the galaxy. This is a job for a detective, and not a commando. There is no point keeping the _Normandy_ from the Alliance, particularly when it is of no use to me."

"You refuse to accept the _Normandy_? The Alliance graciously offers you the most modern warship and you refuse it!" The Ambassador seemed apoplectic with rage at Shepard's cool refusal.

"I believe that is what I just said, Ambassador." Shepard's voice was icy, and the Spectre was growing colder as the Ambassador was growing hotter. If red hot fury and violent emotion faced cold determination and inflexible resolution, it would have been the Ambassador and the Spectre. Anderson once more intervened before the situation spiralled out of control. He spoke quietly, "Shepard, it will look really bad for humans if you begin this investigation without any assistance from the Alliance."

Shepard answered, "I have no objection to accepting help from the Alliance, Captain, but it must be something that I require. I am assembling my team that will investigate Saren, and perhaps useful personnel could be seconded from the Alliance ranks?"

"Yes, Shepard," nodded Captain Anderson. "In fact, that was the other point the Alliance wished me to mention. We are aware that … your intelligence background would greatly benefit from someone who could advise you on the military situations. Admiral Hackett proposed Ms. Ashley Williams here, and she has agreed to work with you. If that is agreeable to you, that is."

"Absolutely, Captain. I see no problems with that. And I am sure Ms. Williams will be very useful. Welcome to the team, Ms. Williams." For once, Shepard's voice was truly human and warmly welcoming.

"Thank you, Commander" The soldier saluted the Commander.

-(Scene Break)-

In his newly assigned C-Sec office, Shepard stood inspecting his team, which had been assembled in front of him. In a row, they stood before him, the soldiers as if on a parade ground. At the extreme left stood Ashley Williams, in full Alliance uniform, and at attention. Next to her was Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, fidgeting and nervous in her suit. Next to her was Liara T'Soni, trying to mask her anxiety and unfamiliarity with other species. The one next to he was a tall Turian named Garrus Vakarian, deputed from the C-Sec. He had been the officer who had investigated Saren's actions. The final one was an enormous Krogan, the mercenary who had helped Shepard and Tali on Therum. Shepard introduced the team to everyone else, and then began assigning them all tasks. "Chief Williams, you are going to go over the testimony collected by the Alliance in the wake of the attack on Eden Prime. There are a large number of witnesses, whose testimony was collected, and the Alliance has forwarded all those files to us. You will check the files and see if there is anything connected to Saren or that ship of his." The woman saluted.

Shepard continued, "Tali, all the Geth salvaged from both the attacks on Eden Prime and the Binary Helix facility has been put at our disposal. You will check the Geth, and see if anything distinct can be discovered about them. Anything that gives clues about their origin would be of use to us, since it would give us a location to start looking in. Further, see what modifications the Geth have made since you examined Geth technology in the past. We'll need to know the direction of their changes for any future conflict." The Quarian girl assented.

"Liara, the remains of the Prothean artefact has been sent to us. You will check it and while it is no longer functional, you may discover something of use to us from it. And more importantly, if you can find any reason why Saren would be interested in it. You will also investigate all the information that is available on the Conduit and the Reapers. When you have done that, you and I have other work to do, which we can discuss later." The Asari nodded.

"Garrus, you will investigate the thug who attacked me and was murdered in a C-Sec prison. It was, I understand, not followed up?" "Yes, Commander," answered the Turian. "The death was put down to an accident by an orderly, and the orderly was suspended."

"You will begin investigation into this orderly and who may have paid him to do so. More importantly, you will also investigate the antecedents of this dead Turian thug, who he worked for, and so forth."

"At once, Commander," replied the Turian.

And he finally addressed the Krogan, "Wrex, you will start looking at all the mercenaries that have gone missing since they joined up with Saren. Also, the ships that the mercs hit, along with their cargo. You will also try and discover if any of them are still alive, and if there is anything in common to those mercs."

"Right, Shepard," rumbled the Krogan.

"And I," finished Shepard, "will be looking into the testimonies of the students of Matriarch Benezia. Also, I will be looking into the communications from the Binary Helix facility and also interviewing officials from the company to see what links Saren had and what we can discover. We shall see if there is anything to indicate Saren's plans. Right, any questions?"

No one had any. Shepard concluded the meeting, "The most important thing is secrecy. All of you are required to keep your eyes and ears open and mouths shut. The only thing we have working for us is secrecy. The fact that we are investigating Saren and his activities will have already reached him, or will soon. He will know we are coming after him. Whatever his plans are, we are to find him and discover his plans, and stop them." Here Shepard paused and looked earnestly into the eyes of each of them, ending slowly, "He is not going to raid any more colonies, not on our watch!"

"Yes, sir!" The answer had come from all the others. Shepard opened the door, and let them out. As they were passing, he remarked to Wrex, "Wrex, I want you to come with me. The weapons for our squad has arrived and I want you to look them over."

Ashley, who was a couple of paces ahead stopped, and volunteered, "I can do that, sir. It was my job, after all."

"I'm sure you can, Chief. But I would prefer Wrex to have a look at them. He's been looking at weapons for more than a millenium!" Shepard was mild, almost apologetic in his refusal.

As Ashley turned away, she heard the Krogan growl, "Never thought I would be working in a job inside C-Sec."

There was gentle amusement in Shepard's voice as he replied, "You experience something new everyday."

-(Scene Break)-

Wrex and Shepard had descended the stairs from the C-Sec, and emerged outside when the Krogan rumbled, "Where are the weapons, Shepard?"

"What weapons?" Shepard inquired mildly

"The weapons you want me to check, that's what," snapped Wrex.

"Did I mention weapons?" The nonchalance in Shepard's voice was unmistakable. "I must be getting forgetful in my old age!"

"What's going on, Shepard?" asked the Krogan suspiciously.

All the languor had vanished from Shepard's manner. He had become brisk and businesslike, "Listen, Wrex, this is the last chance we are going to get to talk freely. Every move of mine is being watched. My office in C-Sec, I am sure, is bugged. All my calls – both incoming and outgoing – are monitored night and day. And this street is the safest, the only place, where we can talk without being overheard."

"What have you been upto, Shepard?"

Shepard spoke quietly and freely, recounting all his adventures of the last few weeks. He told the old Krogan of his investigations post Eden Prime, his finding the Asari archaeologist on Therum, his offer to the Asari about the evidence concerning Saren, his being sent to rescue Benezia and how he had managed to do that from the Binary Helix facility. At this point, Wrex broke in in amazement, "You found Rachni in there?"

"Yes."

"And what did you do with the Queen?"

For the first time, Shepard's manner was confused. "I don't know," he answered quietly.

"What the hell do you mean by that, Shepard?"

Shepard answered meekly, "I remember standing before the Queen who was confined in her tank and talking to her. The next thing I remember is standing in front of the tank which had been flooded with acid."

"So you squashed the bug?" There was vindictive pleasure in Wrex's voice.

"I don't remember anything between standing before the Queen and seeing the tank flooded with acid. If I killed her, I should remember it, yes?"

"'Course", rasped the Krogan.

"But I don't. I recollect nothing of killing the Queen." Or freeing her, he thought to himself. However, he continued, "Whatever happened there, it is no consequence now, Wrex. It is not some forgotten Rachni queen whose fate we should be concerned with now, but our own fates."

"How?"

Shepard then explained how he had rescued Benezia and returned to Thessia, and there been offered the post of Spectre by the Asari.

Wrex growled, "Hell, Shepard, they have given you this job because no one else wants it. You know what they'll do to you if you fail to find this Turian bastard?"

Shepard nodded sadly, "Yes, Wrex. I know. There is nothing I can do about it. But you are not bound in this task. I invited you to join because neither the Council nor the Alliance wants me to succeed."

"Why?"

"All of them know more about Saren than they are letting out, Wrex. I find Cerberus involved in the same nasty business as Saren, and believe me, when the Alliance wants, it can and does make Cerberus produce answers. And even now, with the Saren connection to the same experiments that Cerberus was running established, we've learnt nothing of what Saren is upto, nor what Cerberus was doing with them. They know more, but they don't want us to know."

"And the Council?"

"The Asari knew about Saren and sent Benezia to influence him – moderate his instincts, if you will. They must know more about Saren's activities than they are letting on. Why would they send a respected Matriarch like Benezia to risk everything if they didn't know what Saren was doing?"

"And they have said nothing?"

"Nothing. From what the Matriarch Thalia's assistant said, they found out about that dreadnought of Saren and sent Benezia to find out more about it, because she and Saren are old friends."

He continued, "The Turians regard the accusation against Saren as an accusation against their species. He is their shame and they don't want it uncovered any more than they can help it. They'll do everything they can to bury all evidence against him."

Shepard sighed and continued, "And you are the only one I can trust in my team ..."

"What's wrong with the others?" questioned the Krogan.

"Where do we begin? Ah yes – let us see." Shepard ticked off his fingers, "Ashley Williams – she is a much despised Alliance officer despite her excellent record. Her family has been in complete disgrace since her grandfather surrendered to the Turians in the first contact war. The Alliance regards her as completely expendable, but she is still loyal to the core to the Alliance. The worst construction I can fathom is that Alliance wants to ruin me, and Ashley Williams is acceptable collateral damage in the bargain. The best construction is that they are throwing away the woman on a job they expect to produce no real results."

Shepard was continuing, and speaking in the same grave, sad tone, "Tali – she is a Quarian admiral's daughter. She knew that I was involved in the Eden Prime business, knew how to recognise me, and came to offer her assistance on her own. It is likely that the Quarians sent her to feed them info about the Geth. She is the least hopeless of the lot. She has her own goals, but they are not, I hope, antagonistic to mine."

"Liara – she is Benezia's daughter. She swears that she and her mother have had no contact, but again, she could be lying. We have only her word that she knew nothing of what her mother was doing and that she was not studying the Prothean artefacts for her mother and Saren. In fact, it is very suspicious that she is an expert on Prothean extinction, and Saren is just coincidentally searching for the Conduit, which comes from the same era."

"And finally, we have Garrus. The Turian supposedly led an investigation into Saren and his activities, but surprisingly discovered nothing. Did he really investigate or did he cover up everything, on the orders of the Council? Also, it was the Council who put him on my team. Who knows where his loyalties lie?"

"Dammit, Shepard. Why did you agree to this job if everything is against you?"

"I had no choice. The Asari .. made me an offer I could not refuse." Seeing the Krogan's questioning glance, Shepard elucidated, "Could not refuse, save at the peril of my life."

He faced Wrex and spoke finally, "Wrex, you know the score now. I would be delighted to have you here. You are the only one I can trust to watch my back in this matter. But if you want to leave, I won't stop you, nor think any worse of you. I have no other choice, but there's no reason why you should put your foot in this hornet's nest."

"Shepard, I've never backed out of a fight. And I won't now."

Shepard gripped the Krogan's arm. "I am truly grateful."

-(Author's Notes)-

The funny thing is that, if you look hard enough, you find suspicious attributes with almost all your squad mates. I have never seen anyone explore this aura of suspicion in the team – everyone portrays things are completely hunky dory and everyone working with the full trust of the others. Now, I am going to portray some intra party friction, with Shepard, being the devious minded creature that he is, suspecting everyone and everything. But it is his nature, his job to be cautious.

Further, I am going to explore the Alliance-Cerberus dynamics in some depth. The number of Alliance personnel – current and past – who end up in Cerberus is astonishing. It is interesting to see just how much the Alliance and Cerberus exchange their ranks.

Finally, do guess what happened to the Rachni queen. As usual, all comments are welcome.


	10. Checks in the Investigations

**The Candidate – 10**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect. It belongs to Bioware and Drew Karpyshyn. I am merely playing in their universe.

**Checks in the Investigations**

"Let us go over this bit carefully, Williams," remarked Shepard, his reading glasses pushed back from his eyes, and his forehead creased with concern. "The only people who felt this `piercing noise' were those in the immediate vicinity of that giant dreadnought."

"Yes, sir."

"And according to the maps of our positions sent us by the Alliance, the only radio tower in the region was about four miles north of the dig site."

"Sir."

"What do you make of this `piercing sound', Chief?" inquired Shepard.

"It was probably a jamming signal, Commander," replied the Gunnery Chief dismissively.

Shepard said nothing but he laced his fingers underneath his chin, and his eyes remained grave and troubled, and seeing his preoccupation, she said, "But you don't believe it, Commander?"

"I merely find it very odd, Williams. There are three things that militate against that noise emanating from a comm-jammer. First, the comm-jamming signal was in effect over a much larger area than those who felt this noise. You were unable to communicate with anyone as well, even though you were well away from the dreadnought. Yet, you did not feel this `piercing noise', did you?"

"No, sir," returned the woman.

"Secondly, any comm-jammer would be centred on the dig-site where the Prothean beacon would be supposed to exist or on the radio tower. These two would have been the primary targets for any comm-jammers. Yet, according to these reports, even Dr. Warren and her assistant, Dr. Manuel, at the dig site did not suffer from this piercing noise, nor did Lt. Verma at the radio tower, although they were both affected by communications disruptions."

"Finally, the `piercing noise' stopped once the dreadnought left. However, the comm jamming was still in place then, and Lt. Verma was unable to broadcast his distress calls until much later."

"So what do you think it is, sir? Magnetic disturbances from the eezo discharges? Landing resonance from the dreadnought?"

"The atmospheric nuclear magnetic resonance scans don't support the magnetic disturbances theory. The readings are lower than the magnetic disturbances usually found for dreadnoughts of that size, and we know of no dreadnoughts whose landing gives everyone in the neighbourhood a headache and makes them hear `piercing sounds'. Landing resonance is also not supported by the seismographic data. Further, landing resonance vibrations occur only at the time of actual landing and take off. In contrast, the people heard the sound the entire time the dreadnought was on Eden Prime."

"So what is the answer?" asked Ashley.

"I do now know, Williams. Just that it is something we need to keep in mind. In any case, there are two more points that is surprising in this Eden Prime raid."

"Sir?"

"First is the appearance of that geth[1] dreadnought itself. Why did Saren bring that ship to raid Eden Prime, especially since it played no part in the attack? Only the geth attacked the colony, after all, alongside Saren."

"But if there had been Alliance ships in the area, or he had run into other resistance ..."

"There are plenty of geth ships that would be easily capable of overrunning any ad-hoc Alliance resistance. But even though he brought geth troops, he did not bring any geth ships, as you see. Why was that?"

"Why shouldn't he bring the dreadnought, skipper?" demanded Ashley. "After all, it was quite capable of doing the job very efficiently. And it is easier to bring in one large ship, than a horde of geth ships."

"Because I don't think that Saren wants anyone to know that he has got his own personal dreadnought that dwarfs even the _Destiny: Ascension_. Even a trusted Spectre would be called to account for possession of such a ship, if he was found using it. He would not want any attention focussed on that ship, even if his connection to the ship had not been traced. In fact, I don't think he travels around in it in Citadel space or the Traverse. And believe me, it is hard to hide a ship that size in Citadel space or even the Attican Traverse if you are running around in it regularly. Eden Prime is in a well frequented area, Williams, and there are a number of ships plying the area. There is always a very good chance that someone might catch that dreadnought on their radar scans, and report it. We may safely assume that when Saren plies the Citadel space, or the Traverse, he travels in more modest transport."

"So why did he bring in the ship to Eden Prime, then?"

"Logistics," answered Shepard. "This raid originated far from Eden Prime. Eden Prime, Williams, is well within Alliance space, and is regularly patrolled. Regular geth ships – whose ranges I have verified with Tali – would need multiple stops to discharge FTL build ups from the hulls, and refuel themselves, and would most likely be detected before they got close to Eden Prime. Regular geth ships are also not welcome at the refuelling stations close enough to Eden Prome. The only ship Saren has that has the required range is that dreadnought.

Ashley Williams nodded slowly at the Commander's reasoning. The Commander continued, "The other interesting fact is that he brought geth to the attack, Williams. Why? After all, there are tons of mercs who would be glad to do it for the requisite amount of credits. And the attack on Eden Prime would be put down to another audacious attack by mercs. Why did he not do that, Williams?"

"I give up, skipper," said the woman.

Shepard smiled and answered softly, "Because he did not have the time to recruit enough mercs. The Prothean beacon was discovered only a week before the attack on Eden Prime. Discreetly recruiting the number of mercs needed to raid Eden Prime takes time, and Saren could not do it fast enough without openly showing his own hand. Also, he wanted no one to know he was after the Prothean beacon, not even mercs or their handlers. So he used geth. After all, geth don't talk to organics, do they?"

"But what does all this mean, skipper? I mean – how does knowing this help us?"

"It tells us that he wanted the beacon desperately enough that he was willing to expose the geth. I confess I am interested in knowing what the beacon said – a cursory examination by Liara showed no reason why he should want it so desperately. But apart from all this, knowing Saren's method and reasons tells us that Saren has the geth securely in his pocket. He trusts them enough that he dares let them know his plans – at least, in part. He does not fear betrayal from them. And it tells us that he has his base somewhere far from Eden Prime. He may still run through Alliance and Citadel space, but his main base of operations is well outside the range of any geth ship from Eden Prime. Therefore we need to start looking for his base from the far end of the Attican Traverse outwards towards the Terminus Systems and Geth space. And while it is a huge area, it is still a starting point to start looking for him."

"And how are we going to do it."

"I have already started, Williams," smiled Shepard, and for the first time, the smile actually touched his eyes, and not merely his lips. "I've already activated every listening post and agent of mine bordering geth space and in the Traverse!"

-(Scene Break)-

Garrus Vakarian entered Shepard's office, to find the commander typing on his keyboard. "Ah, Garrus, do come in. Have a seat." The commander waved his hand to one of the chairs in front of his desk.

The well built and tall turian sat down on the proffered seat. "What's new?" queried the Commander.

"Two things, Commander," returned the turian. "The orderly, Tressan Lucullus, has left the Citadel since being suspended from the job. He is now on Vallum on Taetrus. But there is one interesting fact – he travelled to Monoi in Lusia before going to Vallum."

"Ahh!" From Shepard's exclamation, the Turian gathered that the travel meant as much to the commander as it did to him. Lusia was the headquarters of the most powerful banking conglomerates in the galaxy, and the most secretive. Lusia was a kind of posh and well ordered pirates' port – the place where all financial transactions of significance were handled with utmost discretion and secrecy. The self righteous bankers of the planet would guarantee their investors full anonymity, and every large criminal who wished to hide his wealth had an account in Lusia. And for the most part, it was all but impossible to breach the security afforded the clients by the Lusian banks. Many times the Asari on Thessia and other planets had tried to bring the planet in line with the other planets' disclosure laws, but with indifferent success. The bankers of Lusia were simply too powerful to be so easily compelled. "Very clever," murmured Shepard. "We know how the Lusian Asari there feel about revealing the names of their customers or their details."

"Indeed," nodded Garrus.

There was a long moment of silence. Garrus noticed that the commander's eyes were focussed on something a million miles away, and he drummed his fingers absently on the table. Before the turian could interrupt his superior's thoughts, the commander gave an angry shake of his head, and briskly returned to the present. "You've done very well, Garrus. Any idea which bank he visited on Vallum?"

Garrus shook his head. Shepard proceeded, "Okay, what is the other news?"

"The dead Turian thug, Ionaticus Tarsus, used for a local gangster named Fist. He was part of that gang, and has been photographed in the company of Fist's riff-raff many times."

"Interesting, Garrus. Tell me more about this Fist."

"Fist is a criminal that works on the Wards here on the Citadel, Commander. He is usually found in the Chora's den – a dingy pub in the Lower Wards. C-Sec has a fuller file on Fist, I am sure."

"Thanks, Garrus. I'll call it up. Excellent work. Let us look into this Fist."

With Shepard's Spectre authority, it took less than a few minutes to authorise its release to the Spectre. At the top of the file was a full face photograph of the man – it showed a rat faced creature, a weak chin with shifty eyes, and a small stature. The human and the turian read the file. The pith of the information was that the gangster was well organised – he was never directly connected to any of the dirty businesses he got his underlings involved in. Principally, the man was involved in two kinds of crime – extortion, and smuggling in red sand. The man was simply the coordinator of the whole operation. It had one important piece of information – it was suspected that the man's underlings were blackmailing a local doctor who had a clinic on the wards. A woman named Dr. Chloe Michel."

Shepard seemed pleased with the information. He leant back in his chair and thought for a long moment. It was unlikely that this gangster or his scum would talk easily. They were the hardened criminals and would not be easy to frighten or bluff. Of course, there was the fact that, being a Spectre, he could do what he wanted and it was unlikely that C-Sec or the Council would overly care if he tortured the men, but that was not Shepard's way. He had never descended to such barbarities, and he did not propose to begin now. Consequently, he instructed Garrus. "I want full information about this Fist, Garrus. Where he lives, what his movements are, who meets him, and how he is protected by his gangsters. Case the man thoroughly and let me know."

"At once, commander!" Garrus saluted and departed.

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard and Liara were seated in the Spectre's office, their foreheads almost touching each other. The Asari's hands were on Shepard's shoulder and her irises had gone dark, as she had initiated a meeting of the minds with the Spectre. On his part, Shepard's midnight black eyes were fiercely focussed on the woman in front of him, as he strove with every ounce of will to recollect every detail of the vision that the Prothean beacon had burnt into his mind. With a sigh, the Asari archaeologist broke the contact between their minds, and slumped back into her chair. "I saw nothing I haven't already told you about, Shepard," she intoned. "The message seems to be a warning about those sentient machines. It seems to warn about the monstrous machines and their dangers. But there is nothing else, apart from that."

Shepard did not say anything, but looked troubled. Liara saw his preternaturally grave expression and cried, "I swear, Shepard, there's nothing else I can make out!"

"Oh, I believe you," returned the commander. "It's the implications of it that worry me."

"Meaning?"

"Why did Saren want the colony and the beacon destroyed if there is nothing of much value in it? Why did he go to the extent of sending assassins after me, if the content of the beacon did not matter?"

"I don't know," sighed Liara. Her head dropped back in exhaustion.

The Spectre had jumped to his feet and looked anxiously at the tired maiden, "Are you alright, Liara?"

From her semi-recumbent position in her chair, Liara nodded, "Yes, just give me a minute. The Joining was draining."

Shepard walked to a shelf, took down a bottle of wine, and poured a measure of it into a glass and handed it to the Asari maiden. "Here, drink this. It should make you feel a bit better."

Liara raised the glass to her lips and suddenly stiffened, "Shepard, this is Thessia Red! Where did you get it from?"

There was a limpid smile on Shepard's lips. "Do you like it? I saw you had a bottle of it on Therum, and managed to get a couple of bottles here on the Citadel."

"It's my favourite," gushed the archaeologist. She sipped the wine with singular relish. "Thanks." Some of the strain seemed to seep out of her frame.

"I'm glad you like it, Liara," returned the Commander as he sampled his own drink.

"Back home on Armali, my mother kept this for special occasions," reminisced Liara. "Very important guests would get a sample of her Thessia Red."

"Well, being a very important diplomat and Councillor, I would imagine she received a lot of distinguished guests." Shepard then led the talk into a domain that had long made him curious. "You miss her, don't you?"

"Not directly as such, Shepard," returned the Asari guilelessly. "As I told you, she and I rarely spoke. Particularly once I became an archaeologist."

"Why?" Shepard's voice was politely inquisitive.

"With my mother's standing and position, everyone expected me to be a leader of our people, following in her footsteps. When I chose to study the Prothean archaeology, it was a great disappointment to my mother."

"And your mother did not approve of your interest in archaeology?"

"She thought I was just wasting my time pursuing childish and pointless activities, when I could be learning to become a leader of our people. She thought I was being foolishly rebellious."

Shepard made no answer to it, and something came over Liara. She needed the opinion of the Commander. "What do you think, Shepard?

The Spectre's eyebrows went up. "Why does my opinion matter? There are surely others, nearer and dearer, older and wiser, who can better advise you."

Liara laughed bitterly, "There is no one near or dear to me. Mother was the only one and she stopped talking to me thirty years ago. Since then, I have been alone on dig sites."

"Didn't you ever feel lonely?"

"I – the solitude appealed to me," replied Liara, her voice shy and small. "I need to get away from people often."

Shepard nodded, as if he understood completely. Liara inquired, "What about you, Shepard?"

"Like you, I worked alone. I was often deep in Batarian space, or the Traverse, working to set up intelligence operations."

Liara nodded in complete understanding. Shepard returned to his questions. "And why did you choose to study the Protheans?" There was just the required amount of mild interest that encouraged Liara to continue."

"Commander, everyone sees them as a technology storehouse, to be mined and utilised. But few have tried to understand how their civilisation created the technology we so love. What was the Prothean society like? How advanced were they? And most importantly, why did they disappear? A civilisation as advanced as the Protheans should not have disappeared without a trace."

"In that, I agree with you," replied the Commander seriously. "They should not have disappeared. And you say the mass relays are older than their technology. That makes it a much more complex puzzle."

"Absolutely," nodded Liara vigorously. "Your vision actually gives the first solid clue about the fate of the Prothean civilisation. If they were destroyed by those sentient machines, then the sudden violent collapse of the Protheans can be explained." She amended, "To an extent."

Shepard nodded thoughtfully, "The sentient machines should have been around, then. Ah well – even if nothing else, this vision you have seen should let you publish a paper on the extinction of the Protheans."

"If anyone believes that theory, that is," returned the maiden. "Without the original beacon, that theory will not carry much credence," she sighed.

It may have been the wine, or it may have been a test for the Asari archaeologist, but Shepard said something that he rarely would have said. "Saren appears to believe it. And his geth."

Shepard rose to his feet. "Get some rest, Liara. You are overwrought. When you are restored, we can talk about what we do next."

"Shepard, you never answered my question." Liara's voice was anxious.

Shepard answered over his shoulder, "I'll tell you what I know, Liara. You must do the job you like, else you will never be happy. And you cannot succeed in a field you dislike. You say you like studying the Protheans – so that is what you must continue with."

"And is that what you are doing, too, Commander? Is this job what you like?" Liara's question was incredibly personal, but she felt she must know the answer to that one. She still could not see through the formal, but gentle and courtly politeness of the human Commander. The Commander was always considerate, and kind, but she never knew what he thought, and that troubled her.

"In my world, Liara, there are no likes and dislikes. There are only necessities and actions. Goodnight!" With which Parthian shot he was gone, leaving a puzzled Liara behind.

-(Scene Break)-

Half an hour later, just as Shepard was leaving the C-Sec office, he was accosted by a reporter, who introduced herself, "Commander Shepard, I am Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani, Westerlund News."

Shepard's lips had tightened into a grim line. That a reporter was seeking him out was not a good omen, but he replied courteously, "How may I help you, Ms. al-Jilani?

"Given that you have just been named humanity's first Spectre, what are your thoughts about it?"

Shepard felt a chill in his spine. So someone had already leaked out the fact that he was a Spectre. "What makes you think I am a Spectre?"

"Come now, Commander, my sources were very specific. You have just been appointed humanity's first Spectre. You need not be so coy."

Shepard's thin lips had all but disappeared, even as the chill in his spine intensified. Exactly how much of the details of his assignment had been leaked? And more importantly, who had leaked them? With a forced composure, he queried, "What exactly have your sources told you, Ms. al-Jilani?"

"We know you have been made a Spectre, Commander. We also know that the Council's throwing us a bone to keep us quiet after the Eden Prime attack. And rumours say that your first assignment is to track down a rogue Spectre, Saren Arterius."

"And is this news public, already?"

"I should imagine so, Commander," returned the dark skinned woman. "I mean – it is a matter of pride for us that you are a Spectre." The woman's lips twisted with sarcasm as she spoke the sentence. She continued, "Most news agencies have been publishing the fact that you've been made a Spectre."

Shepard closed his eyes in horror. Slowly, he opened them after a moment. "I see," he returned thoughtfully. "I am afraid I am not in a position to confirm or refute your assertions regarding my Spectre status, ma'am. Not can I comment about my assignment or its details. If you have other questions, however, perhaps I can answer them."

"I see," returned Khalisah, her beady eyes fixed on the Commander. "Is it true that you were on Eden Prime, commander? That you were part of the team that saved the colony?"

Shepard saw no problem in replying to that. After all, Saren already knew about it. "Yes, I was."

"And how do you explain how the Alliance failed to help those people, Commander? Is this indifference the best we can expect from the Alliance?"

"Khalisah, no one had expected a Geth raid on Eden Prime. No Geth has been seen outside the Perseus Veil in three hundred years and consequently, the possibility of a Geth attack was considered extremely remote. The defences of Eden Prime were geared towards defending the colony from the slavers and pirates, not a full scale attack by the Geth. Even so, the Alliance reacted fast, and within a day, the entire planet had been cleansed of the Geth."

"And yet," Khalisah all but snarled, "there were seven hundred dead in Eden Prime."

"Yes, there were," replied Shepard equably. "And there would have been a lot more if the Alliance had not reacted as quickly as it did. The first Alliance ship was helping the colony within an hour of the first attacks on Eden Prime. You are perhaps aware that it was because of the fast reaction of the Alliance that we could dismantle the explosives set to destroy the entire colony?" Seeing her reluctant nod, Shepard pressed home his advantage. "Facing a totally unexpected situation, the Alliance was able to save the colony, and drive out the geth. I think the Alliance has acquitted itself splendidly in the situation."

Changing the topic, Khalisah inquired, "And were you also on Noveria? Rumours say that you were asked by the Council to sabotage human research in Binary Helix."

Shepard thought for a moment. By now, Saren would have realised that he had got Benezia. He would have realised that the human had penetrated the Binary Helix operations and would have destroyed all evidence connecting him and Benezia to it. So he decided to give her a part of the truth. "No, no – my presence on Noveria had nothing to do with the Council. You are probably aware that I am an expert in communications and nanoelectronics?" Seeing her nod, the Commander explained, "There was an accident in the Binary Helix research facility on Noveria, and I was called in in my professional capacity to fix it."

"I see," returned Khalisah. "That is the most anyone has told us about the Binary Helix situation until now, Commander. And what was the nature of the accident, Commander Shepard?"

"I am afraid I cannot tell you, Ms. al-Jilani," returned Shepard. "However, I can tell you that the situation has been resolved and things are now back to normal."

"One last question, Commander. Isn't being a Spectre being a hired assassin and shill for the Council? Have you been asked to put aside human needs for them?"

Shepard was totally unimpressed by the question. His voice was cool and resolute, "I think the interview is over, Ms. al-Jilani."

What the reporter would have said to that became academic, as his comm tool buzzed. Shepard excused himself, and answered. Tali's voice was urgent. "Shepard, come as quickly as you can to your office. We've got a problem here."

"On my way," replied Shepard succinctly. He bowed to the reporter, "Ms. al-Jilani, I must bid you goodbye now, as I am needed in my office. It's been a pleasure, ma'am." The Commander bowed and left, leaving an angry and puzzled reporter in his wake.

-(Author's Notes)-

I know the dreadnought is not `Geth', but Shepard has no reason to suspect that it is a Reaper at this point. In his perspective, it is still a `Geth' ship.

Also, did no one wonder about Khalisah finding out that Shepard was a Spectre? I mean – the names and numbers of Spectres are supposed to be very secret and here is this woman party, not only to the fact that Shepard is a Spectre, but also many of his whereabouts and his assignment. If I was Shepard, I would be scared to death about being turned into a celebrity. The strength of an operative lies in his secrecy. If everyone knows what he is doing, it is like a clear target painted on his heart.

Coming up next, some more politics, and some breakthroughs in the investigations.

As usual, all comments are welcome.


	11. A Few Breakthroughts

**The Candidate – 11**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect. It belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware. I am just playing in their Universe.

**A Few Breakthroughs**

Shepard walked back briskly and a minute later, he was at Tali's desk. The Quarian looked up from her work. She made to speak, but Shepard gestured her to silence and ordered her to follow him. They both walked to the Krogan monument, and Shepard led her to a bench adjoining the open space. Shepard smiled and nodded, "Okay, tell me your news now."

Tali, who had been following Shepard's actions with some surprise, finally found her tongue. "I was monitoring all transmissions into and out of C-Sec, as you ordered me to, Shepard. There was a transmission that I thought you should hear."

Shepard nodded, and Tali hit a few keys on her omnitool. A muffled voice – Shepard guessed that it was muffled by electronic voiceprint distorters – began, _"Shepard's thinks that the Geth attack originated far from Eden Prime and that dreadnought is the only Geth ship with the required range for Saren's attack. He's activated all his assets in the Traverse bordering Geth space. He's found that Fist's involved with the death of Tarsus. He's got Vakarian investigating Fist. Shepard's been looking into his Prothean beacon visions with that Asari archaeologist. Over and out."_

Shepard inquired, "Was this in code?"

Tali affirmed, "Yes, standard Council H7 code. But it was a burst transmission, Shepard." Burst transmissions were very short duration transmissions where information would be heavily compressed and broadcast in a single burst over a couple of seconds. The young Quarian continued, "It was only because you got the new high sampling rate receivers that we were able to catch this."

Shepard was looking into the distance. He inquired mildly, "Any idea where the message originated?"

"It came from one of C-Sec's public terminals."

"The receiver?"

"The signal is weak Shepard. It could not have gone far. The receiver is also on the Citadel, I think."

"Excellent work, Tali. Continue monitoring all transmissions from C-Sec."

"Should we keep an eye on the public terminals?"

Shepard smiled cynically, "Certainly not! And we're not going to do anything to stop our friend from transmitting."

Tali was startled. "Why not?"

Shepard replied, the same cynical expression on his lips. "I have my reasons."

There was a long pause, and then, tremulously, Tali ventured, "Whom do you think is the person transmitting to here?"

Shepard replied, "Well, it certainly is not the Council. They would not need burst transmissions, not when they control all the communications facilities on the Citadel. They could easily get their own secure channel. I don't think it is the Alliance either. They have enough Alliance officers in C-Sec and they have no need for low power burst transmissions to send information."

"So, who then?"

Shepard shrugged, "We must find out."

There was a long silence at this, and then Tali pulled herself out of her reverie. She said. "There is another thing, Shepard. Spectre Tela Vasir wants to meet you in the Flux."

"Thank you, Tali. You've done great work."

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard met Tela Vasir for supper. The human Spectre ate little, but contented himself with a few morsels of barley bread and a handful of fruits. Looking closely at him, Tela realised that he was tired and distrait, with lines of strain around his eyes. They spoke little until the table had been cleared and the drinks had been brought. As they both sipped coffee at the end of their supper, Tela finally began explaining her mission. "Shepard, I've been tasked by the Armali Council to look into the Rachni on Noveria – particularly what Cerberus intended to do with the Rachni. Matriarch Thalia asked me to speak to you first." Tela would have preferred not to tell Shepard who had employed him or what her task was, but Matriarch Thalia had been insistent that Shepard be kept in the loop. She had pointed out that he was the only one she could depend on for any cooperation in the matter, since neither the Alliance, nor the Council, nor Cerberus could be approached for assistance, and that it would be wise not to antagonise him.

"Are we on record, or off it, Spectre Vasir?" Shepard's voice was gentle and grave.

"Off it," replied the Asari.

"Off record, I can tell you that the person you need to find is Capt. Dr. Armistan Banes."

"Who is he?"

"He used to be a former Alliance officer. Officially, he resigned three months ago. Before he resigned, he was the head of Centre for Xenobiological Studies on Tyr. After his resignation, he disappeared."

"What can you tell me about this Banes?"

"Nothing off hand, I am afraid. However, I should be able to get you his career record, and trace his associates for you, if you like."

"How can you get his record?" There was some surprise in the Spectre's voice.

Shepard smiled demurely, "The Alliance is very keen to cooperate with me in this Saren investigation. If I were to request the personnel files of Banes, I should be able to get it. Also, I know how and whom to approach, and, more importantly, whom not to, in the Alliance. Spectre authority, when combined with proper contacts, should go a long way in getting what we need." Seeing Tela Vasir's sceptical countenance, Shepard reassured quietly, "I've no reason to protect anyone in Cerberus, Spectre Vasir. You may rest assured that you will get my full cooperation and complete frankness in this matter."

Tela mentally thanked Matriarch Thalia fervently. Outwardly, she politely returned, "That would be very helpful, Shepard. Any idea where Banes may have gone, Shepard?"

Shepard thought for a long moment, and finally answered, "You'll have a hard time finding Banes. If he's very important to Cerberus, he'll be very well hidden. If he's not important, he'll be dead.

"Is there anything else you can help me with regarding Cerberus?" queried Tela Vasir.

Shepard nodded, "Four years ago, I crossed swords with Cerberus. I had prepared an extensive report on the structure and organisation of Cerberus and its front companies. It is four years old and out of date, but you could probably find some bits of useful information there."

Tela Vasir looked surprised. "You have clashed with Cerberus in the past?" Seeing Shepard's affirmative nod, she inquired, "Why?"

"They were running a death camp for biotic kids at the Teltin facility on Pragia, performing utterly loathsome experiments. I investigated them, but could not progress too far."

"Why not?"

Shepard shrugged, "My superiors in the Alliance decided that the investigations were pointless and unnecessary. On the basis of the evidence I had collected, two low level scientists – if that term can be employed to describe those amoral swine who conducted the barbaric experiments at the Teltin facility – were prosecuted and imprisoned. However, the remainder of the files were sealed and I was shifted to a different assignment."

There was a moment's silence and then, Tela Vasir asked him quietly, "Why do you truly dislike Cerberus, Shepard?"

"They are following a very dangerous path for humanity," answered Shepard equally quietly.

"Because they are xenophobes?" There was some scepticism in Tela Vasir's voice.

Shepard shook his head slowly, "Cerberus are not really xenophobes – not the leadership, at least. They are dedicated to one thing, and only one thing. Human dominance of the galaxy. They don't so much dislike other species, as want humans will to prevail in the galaxy. And that, Spectre Vasir, is a very dangerous goal to pursue."

"I don't understand. Why would you, a human, resent human dominance of the galaxy?"

"Because it is not possible to achieve that goal," returned Shepard drily. "Cerberus are truly the human Krogan. And you saw what happened when the Krogan tried to dominate the galaxy – they ended up with their entire species neutered. Already, we humans are seen as too grasping, too disruptive and too aggressive. Given enough provocation by these madmen, it might well push the Council to drastic action against humans, almost all of whom are innocent of Cerberus' actions. And any of the three Council races are strong enough to crush the Alliance on their own. If, heaven forbid, there is a war, we'll be left looking at the Quarians and the Krogan in envy at the end of the Council's military campaign against us. Besides, the Alliance's dalliance with Cerberus is folly. Plausible deniability works only so long. Sooner or later, it is the Alliance's credibility that will have vanished. Whenever Cerberus does something barbaric, it drags the Alliance into its dirty business. I want to put an end to it."

Tela Vasir slowly nodded. After a moment's hesitation, Shepard continued, "Spectre Vasir, I have a proposition for you, if you care to listen."

Seeing her interest, he continued, "Your task and mine seem to be linked. It is a very odd coincidence that Cerberus and Saren should be mixed up in the same Rachni business. I do not like these coincidences, Spectre Vasir. I am trained not to like them."

"So what do you suggest?"

"You are investigating a primarily human group – Cerberus. I can help you there. If you can bring them down, I will be glad to aid you as best as I can. In return, will you forward me anything that might help me in tracking down Saren?"

Spectre Vasir leant back in her chair with a smile. The Matriarch had asked her to make that very offer to Shepard and here was the human forestalling her. She nodded. "Yes, Shepard. It's a deal."

The two Spectres rose to their feet, and shook hands. Just as they parted, Shepard whispered, "Take care, Spectre Vasir. Cerberus are extremely dangerous and they have many allies in the most unlikely places."

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard was facing the Volus financier. "Greetings, Commander Shepard," was the calm greeting.

"You are very prompt at recognition, Mr. Barla Von." Shepard's voice was quiet and polite.

"In my job, one needs to be."

"Indeed," nodded Shepard. He opened with a much more direct approach than usual. "You may have heard of the attack on Eden Prime?" Seeing the Volus nod, Shepard continued, "You have also heard, then, that the rogue Spectre Saren was behind it?"

"I have, Commander Shepard," answered the financier.

"I am looking into all of Saren's transactions. I looked through the investment portfolio of Saren, and he owned a very substantial amount of Binary Helix shares – shares you helped him acquire."

"Very true, Commander."

"May I ask who stood surety for his transactions?"

"Commander, I am afraid I cannot answer it. You surely know that a financier's great virtue is discretion? If I revealed details of my clients, I should never be trusted again." Barla Von was very officious.

Shepard was smooth as silk, however, "Indeed, Mr. Barla Von. Discretion is, as you say, a very great virtue. However, a greater virtue is prudence." Shepard's voice had sunk into a soft deadly whisper. "And it is this prudence that suggests that you cooperate with me discreetly, rather than compel me to have recourse to extreme measures."

"I have little to fear, Spectre. I have broken no laws." The Volus was making an attempt at bluster.

Shepard almost smiled, "Absolutely. And as I am not an imbecile, it is not the prison I threaten you with. It is adverse publicity."

The Volus was looking furious, as Shepard continued dispassionately, "I could go to the Citadel Magistracy and obtain an order to access your records regarding Saren. You would, of course, appeal against it, but the news that you are acting as a front for a rogue Spectre that nearly destroyed a human colony would be out. How many clients, I wonder, will want to make use of a fund manager that is clearly under Council investigation for aiding an attack on a human colony?" Shepard's voice could not be milder.

Shepard could have sworn that the Volus had quivered under that hit, as he continued calmly, "On the other hand, if you cooperate with me, you should be able to get away without any trouble. I can arrange that much. Do you really want so much trouble?"

Barla Von sighed, "Very well, Spectre Shepard. You make a very solid point. The surety came from the New Provident Bank of Lusia."

Shepard's eyebrows went up. "The New Provident, eh? That puts things in a very different scale."

-(Scene Break)-

Liara had hurried towards the Krogan monument, where Shepard was waiting for her. The Spectre had called her and requested her to join him in front of the Krogan monument, saying that her presence was important for an inquiry. Liara found him standing just off the plaza. Shepard was in civilian clothes, wrapped in a grey shawl as was his wont. Seeing the approaching Asari, his face brightened, "Ah – there you are, Liara. Come – we need to talk before we set off on the next task." He led her to a bench and when they were both seated, explained what he had learnt from the Volus fund manager. "The institution that stood behind Saren's financial dealings is the New Provident Bank of Lusia."

"But what does that mean, Shepard?" Liara was utterly perplexed.

Shepard continued, "Given that Saren has been declared a rogue Spectre, we could get a Council order to attach his assets. But the New Provident will fight it tooth and nail – and I will wager you anything that Saren's assets are very considerable. It would take months to get past all the bureaucratic red tape to see any of Saren's accounts or transactions. And Lusian banks are known for playing fast and loose with every single law to protect their clients' interests. No, no – we have to approach this another way."

"And how do you suggest we do it?" queried Liara.

Shepard reclined on the bench, his fingers laced behind his head. He explained, "The group that has a controlling stake in the New Provident is the Dantius family. Liara, do you know if Matriarch Benezia had dealings with them?"

Liara shook here head, "She may have had, Shepard, but I would not know anything about it. Benezia did not involve me in any of her business. Do you know who they are?"

"Aye," nodded Shepard. "They are a family that holds a large stake in several banking interests on Lusia. They finance everything, as long as the return on their investment is assured. They are also the most successful set of crooks in Council space."

"What?" Liara was shocked.

"Aye. But they are very careful never to break the law in any traceable way. Indeed, for all practical purposes, they are a very well respected group, and are very particular about their reputation – I don't think any of the Dantius family has even been accused of any wrong doing. If I were to speak the words I spoke to you openly, I would be sued for defamation – a foul mouthed Spectre and a slandered banking family would be our respective roles. But they and their minions are the financial muscle behind half the devilry in the Traverse – everything from eezo smuggling to slaving. The group is led by Matriarch Orazia." Almost to himself, the human Spectre continued, his voice gentle and wondering, "She is something of a phenomenon even among the Asari, who are famous for diplomacy. She is an old style queen, Liara – all courtesy and conspiracy. I don't believe she has even spoken a harsh word in her life. But her brains concocts the foulest schemes possible."

"How do you know about them, Shepard?" Liara was fascinated by the information the Spectre was putting out.

"I tangled with them briefly on Torfan. The Dantius family owes me a few favours now."

The human Spectre was lost in his own memory, as he thought about events that had happened seven years ago. What Shepard had not told Liara was how he had met the Dantius family. In the aftermath of the Torfan raid, many of the most wanted criminals, both Batarian Hegemony officials, and otherwise, had escaped justice. What the Alliance had failed to realise at the time was that the disappearance of the top Hegemony officials and criminals was no spur of the moment flight. Each had prepared his own escape meticulously. From the moment the Alliance had gained a solid foothold on Torfan, the top criminals and Hegemony officials had known that the battle was lost. They had screamed at the Batarian army to fight on until the reinforcements, just around the corner, arrived. But there were no reinforcements and the Hegemony officials had known that. The Batarian army had been bullied into taking unbelievable casualties, not to produce victory, but to procure a delay while the criminals and Hegemony officials finalised their own escape plans. Behind the army had stood the Hegemony Security officials, shooting and hanging any that dared take a step back. Many courageous and capable Batarian army officers had died at the ends of the Hegemony ropes for retreating after taking far more punishment than military flesh could be expected to take. Just before the final collapse of the Batarian resistance, delayed three months, the Hegemony officials had disappeared. From one end of the planet to the other, they had quit their posts, changed into civilian clothes, had stuffed their perfectly and officially forged personal papers into their pockets and vanished into the chaos that was Torfan. They had left the old men of the Reserves to greet the Alliance soldiers at the gates of the slave pens, the exhausted Batarian army to go into prisoner of war camps, and the inhabitants of Torfan to live or die under the coming Alliance rule.

However, some of the Hegemony officials were too notorious and too well known to escape detection long. That was where the Dantius family had come in. Theodora Dantius had been the Asari consul of Lusia on Torfan and she had been the chief of the Scarlet Pimpernels. She had issued two hundred Lusian IDs in blank so that the Hegemony officials merely had to fill in their name, affix their holograms to the IDs and _voila tout_ – they were free to board the shuttles to Lusia legally. A cold cynical smile graced the Spectre's lips – each ID had been sold for fourteen million credits.

Shepard, then a lieutenant, had obtained the personal papers of one of the dead Batarian criminals and, after a few artful changes to those papers, had sent an impostor with those papers to Theodora Dantius obtain a blank ID. However, after a long interview with the Alliance prosecutor, Shepard had reluctantly come to the conclusion that there was no way he could secure a conviction of a foreign diplomat on the strength of his evidence. The Lusians would simply have claimed that the blank ID had been lost or issued by mistake. There was not an ounce of judicially acceptable evidence.

Consequently, Shepard had researched the Dantius family for two months, and had discovered that they had only one rule in the family 'The only crime was getting caught, the only unforgivable sin, stupidity.' He had used that rule against Theodora. He had returned the blank ID to the Dantius family through another member – Nassana Dantius – letting them know that he knew of Theodora's scheme. The Dantius family did not forgive mistakes like that. Theodora's career as a diplomat had been finished and she had been dumped in an unwanted place after her _faux pas. _Shepard, on the other hand, by letting the Dantius family fix their own mistakes, had made a friend of Matriarch Orazia and Nassana who had returned the ID to the Matriarch and thus owed her own rise to him.

Liara roused the Spectre from his reverie gently remarking, "Shepard." The human almost started. "What do we do now?"

"We have an appointment with Nassana Dantius in twenty minutes. She owes me some favours, but it will be much better if she knows Matriarch Benezia. The more the pressure on the Dantius family, the better it will be for us."

-(Scene Break)-

Nassana Dantius was impeccably dressed, looking every inch the top quality diplomat that she was. If she was surprised at the presence of Liara, she gave no sign of it. Indeed, she was suavity itself as she greeted Liara and Shepard. She invited them into the Asari embassy lounge and pressed refreshments on them. "It has been six years since I have had the pleasure of your company, Commander Shepard. The Matriarch and I would both have been grateful for your presence ere now."

"Alas! I am desolate that I could not come earlier. But I am not my own master, Matron Dantius. I had to be where my superiors commanded me."

Liara got the feeling that both the Spectre and the diplomat were playing their roles with style. And she also got the feeling that both were utterly insincere.

"However, now that you are here, we should open a bottle of Lusian chianti to celebrate the occasion."

"You are too kind."

"Will your companion have the same?" queried the Asari Matron, as she drew the cork from a bottle of exquisite Asari brew.

"I truly forget my manners, Matron." Shepard's voice held self reproach, as he shook his head in sadness. "This is Dr. Liara T'Soni. She is a Prothean archaeologist. You are probably familiar with her mother – Matriarch Benezia, the former Councillor from Armali."

The Asari's features reflected surprise. "You are Matriarch Benezia's daughter? A privilege to meet you, Dr. T'Soni."

Liara bowed, "Likewise, Matron Dantius."

As the trio sipped chianti, Shepard and Nassana Dantius exchanged pleasantries and casual inquiries, before Shepard slowly came to the point. "Well, Matron Dantius, we both are in need of your assistance and counsel. There is a very delicate matter and we deemed that you are the best person to aid us prevent a scandal."

"A scandal, Commander Shepard?"

"Indeed. You've doubtless heard of the rogue Spectre Saren's attack on Eden Prime?" Seeing the diplomat's nod, Shepard proceeded, "But what is less well known is that Matriarch Benezia was attacked by Saren around the same time."

Nassana feigned surprise, "I had not heard of it."

"Probably not," returned Shepard. "Fortunately, the Matriarch is out of danger and should recover, given time. Nevertheless, the matter is being kept under wraps precisely in order to prevent a panic. However, as you can understand, the Council of Armali is more than a little outraged at those who perpetrated the attack and those who aided the attackers."

Nassana reclined in her chair and spoke, "I see indeed, Commander Shepard."

"The Council has put me in charge of finding this rogue Spectre, and I have been looking into his activities over the past few months."

"The Council is very wise," returned Nassana. "They could not have put it in more competent hands."

"If I am able to solve this case, it will be only due to the guidance of people like yourself and the Matriarch," answered Shepard quietly.

"If my counsel can aid you in anyway, Commander, it is yours for the asking." The diplomat inclined her head.

"Saren has been involved heavily in investments in Binary Helix. The New Provident Bank of Lusia stood surety for his transactions."

Nassana leant back and raised her well manicured hand. "Say no more, Commander. I understand fully. And it is indeed, as you say, a very delicate matter."

Shepard reminded, "I can be very discreet, as you and the Matriarch doubtless recollect. And with your cooperation, I can arrange things so that no foolish or reckless accusations are made."

"The Matriarch would, under usual circumstances, be delighted to aid your investigations, I am sure, Commander. Unfortunately, she is a little preoccupied these days."

"Indeed? Is there aught that I can do to alleviate her distress?"

"Perhaps, Commander," returned the diplomat. "My sister, Dahlia, has been taken hostage, and is being held for ransom."

Shepard was startled out of his habitual calm. "Gracious! Is your sister alright?"

"Yes, we believe so. She convinced her captors not to harm her, promising that we would pay handsomely for her safe return. Well, we have paid her ransom, but my sister has not been returned."

Shepard bowed, "If you could give me the details, Matron Dantius, I would be delighted to look into the matter."

-(Author's Note)-

Shepard works on the usual intelligence officer principles – the 4Bs, viz, blandish, browbeat, bribe and blackmail – in that order. Here you are seeing some of his favoured approaches to the problems besetting his investigations.

By the way, do guess who was the person transmitting information about Shepard's investigations. Do try to guess the receiver as well.

Shepard is a non-confrontational person, and he will simply find the path of least resistance. His way of doing things is playing with information.

As usual, all comments are welcome.


	12. Complications

**The Candidate – 12**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect. All that belongs to Bioware and Drew Karpyshyn. I am merely playing in their world.

**Complications**

Shepard bowed, "If you could give me the details, Matron Dantius, I would be delighted to look into the matter."

The diplomat nodded, "Eight days ago, my sister and a couple of her friends were travelling on Sharjila. They were ambushed by a band of thugs who killed her friends and have taken her prisoner."

"The police on Sharjila is no doubt aware of the attack?"

"Certainly. But as far as they know, all the occupants of her car are dead. The bodies of my sister's friends have been found and the car had rolled down a deep hillside, into a rapidly flowing stream. The police believe that my sister's body was washed away, and is unlikely to be found. They have no reason to suspect that my sister has been kidnapped."

"And how do the the police account for the attack on the car?"

"They believe it to be the handiwork of Batarian separatists. They are focussing their energies in that direction."

"What was she doing there?" inquired Shepard quietly.

"She was on holiday, Commander," answered the Asari diplomat, a touch stiffly it seemed.

Shepard merely looked expectantly and she continued, "The demand for ransom came a day afterwards. A recording of my sister reciting the day's Lusian News, along with the kidnappers' demands. We had the voiceprint checked. It is hers alright."

"I take it that you checked it for a compilation?" inquired Shepard.

"Of course," nodded the Asari. "It was not taken from a previous recording, nor compiled from her other speech. It was a genuine unbroken speech and has been verified as such by experts"

"And then?"

"A ransom of a three million credits was demanded. We complied as soon as we verified that the demand was genuine. This was five days ago."

Shepard's lips thinned into a line. "I see, Matron Dantius. But she has not been released?"

"No. We instead got a demand for another five million credits the day before yesterday!"

Shepard nodded, "Can I see the demands for the ransom?"

"Certainly, Commander Shepard." She excused herself, disappeared into the embassy, and brought a holo-vid display device and a recording cartridge. When she played it, it displayed the image of an Asari standing in a scantily furnished room. None of her captors were visible. The Asari, a figure that closely resembled Nassana, but was heavier and stockier, recited the headlines of the day's Lusian News – a report about the breaking up of a bunch of slavers on a Salarian planet – and then assured the other members of the Dantius family that she was safe and well, and that her kidnappers wanted three million credits to be credited to another Lusian bank – the Gladion-Sonaza Bank - for her release.

Shepard listened to the demand in hard lipped silence, and then inquired, "The second demand?"

The diplomat inserted another cartridge and a similar recital followed – a further report about the slaver ring. Shepard put his finger tips together and inquired, "How did the demands arrive?"

"By courier to me. We checked with the couriers and found that both of them were sent from Vorkuta, Sharjila."

"I see," replied Shepard slowly. "So what steps have you taken?"

"Eclipse mercenaries have kept a watch on Vorkuta – it is the only spaceport and my sister has not been through this place. No other ships have landed on Sharjila outside the spaceport - we have discreetly kept watch on the planet and we are certain of this."

Shepard nodded, and Nassana continued, "Our people in the Gladion say that the person who owns the account to which we transferred the credits has never been seen. It is an account which has only been operated remotely by someone named Avestroni Mantius. Her address is also on Vorkuta, Sharjila."

"Has the address been checked out?"

"Yes, of course. The address does not exist."

"Very well, Matron Dantius, what do you wish me to do?"

"We wish for my sister to be returned to us unharmed and without any fuss. We cannot be seen to be appearing in this matter," She looked very seriously at the Alliance officer. "Secrecy is of paramount importance, Commander Shepard."

Shepard nodded in understanding, and asked, "Her captors?"

"Are inconsequential," returned the Asari diplomat. "Deal with them as you will. We don't care about them, as long as we don't appear in the matter."

"And the ransom?"

The Asari shrugged, "Negotiate it. We want to have her back once we have paid the ransom this time, though."

"_C'est bon,_" nodded Shepard. "I will keep in touch with you, Matron Dantius. Give my regards to the Matriarch."

With that, Shepard and Liara exited the Asari embassy.

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard had fallen into a profound reflection as he and Liara emerged from the Asari embassy, having made the bargain with Nassana to find her sister, Dahlia Dantius. Liara questioned timidly, "Shepard, what do you think about this kidnapping?"

Shepard roused himself from his reverie with a start. "There are five possibilities for the kind of kidnappers, Liara. Only five. The first kind are the amateurs. They usually plan badly, and only succeed by luck or fluke. They have little nerve, which is bad for the victim, but can usually be bluffed or tricked. But these were not amateurs."

"How can you say that?" inquired Liara.

"You heard Nassana talk about her sister's two friends? Well, I will wager you what you like that they were her bodyguards." Seeing her puzzled expression, he explained, "The Dantius family travels well guarded, Liara. Her two `friends' are most likely to have been two Eclipse mercenaries, well trained Asari commandos and very capable. If someone managed to ambush them, and take Nassana's sister captive, then they are likely to have been very good. Consequently, it cannot have been amateurs."

Liara nodded slowly, following Shepard's reasoning, and added, "You were saying about the kidnappers?"

"Yes, the second kind would be the fanatics. They are all driven by some cause – political, social or religious. They will all kill and die for it. But these kidnappers don't seem to be fanatics."

"Why not?"

"The only fanatics of any significance on Sharjila are the Batarian separatists. All fanatics love publicity, Liara. If the Batarian separatists – or another ideological group had taken Dahlia Dantius, they would have publicised it by now, if only to make the Alliance look bad. But, Lusia is on excellent terms with the Batarian Hegemony and these separatists have had much political and moral support from the Asari republics. None of them would want to jeopardise all that, particularly by offending a very powerful family like the Dantius, even for the sake of a few million credits. There is, however, the off chance that low level separatist thugs are holding her prisoner, without informing their superiors. But that is not very likely. The attack will have been known by now. If the Batarians had done it, their superiors would have realised by now, and they would have jumped in. Also, the Dantius family has been backing many of these escapades and I am almost certain that Matriarch Orazia has discreetly tried to find out if any of the Batarian separatist groups were involved. Therefore, it is not very likely to be fanatics"

"I see, Shepard. What are the others?"

"The third kind are the maniacs. These are the worst from a victim's point of view. They want nothing material. They just kill for fun or kicks. But these are not maniacs."

"Why do you say that?"

"Maniacs are rarely good planners, Liara. They have no particular preferences about who they take, torture and kill. Also, if they killed two of the bodyguards, they would not just take the one person prisoner. Bloodlust works in strange ways – once aroused, it is really hard to contain, to control. But this bunch has taken her and is keeping her safe, waiting for ransom without harming her. This is not very typical of maniacs."

Liara nodded, and Shepard continued his explanation, "The fourth kind is the professional kidnapper. This breed works only for money. They are greedy and this second demand as soon as the first one was promptly fulfilled is very typical of the professional kidnapper. Also, if they were after Dahlia, it is very likely they waited patiently for their chance and grabbed it in the sparsely populated Sharjila. So, professional kidnappers are a very distinct possibility."

"And the last kind?" questioned Liara.

"The ones with a private grudge," returned Shepard unhesitatingly. "These are the most dangerous, simply because, as outsiders, it is very hard for us to understand and gauge their motivations and mindset. They can plan very well, and they can be cool headed enough to bleed the Dantius family through these ransoms. And the Dantius family has plenty of powerful enemies. So that is the other possibility." Shepard mused softly, "However, there are two very strange points about this case, Liara. Two things that I cannot really put my finger on."

"And what are they?"

"Nothing strikes you as unusual?" inquired the Spectre in obvious surprise. When the Asari maiden shook her head, Shepard returned, "Well, think about it, and we'll compare notes some other time. Now is the moment for action, and we can go into long winded explanations later."

Liara digested the Spectre's words in silence. Finally, she asked, "So, what should we do, Shepard? Should we inform the Alliance now?"

"No." Shepard shook his head. "The last thing we need is to let the Alliance – or the Council – know that we have been in contact with the Dantius family.

"What are we going to do now?"

"We simply don't have the manpower or the time to go rescuing Dahlia. This is a hostage rescue job, and we are, therefore, simply going to outsource this matter to people who are experts in this field."

"But Nassana insisted on secrecy ...," protested the Asari archaeologist.

Shepard shrugged indifferently, "I don't think she expects two people to rescue her sister from a bunch of kidnappers." Seeing her dubious look, Shepard almost grimaced, "Liara, there are seventy five thousand people on Sharjila, most of them Batarian. Very few of them will even talk to us, so there is precious little we can do there on our own, even if we had the time to investigate. There are a million hidey-holes on the planet, and it is worse than looking for a needle in a haystack."

"So what do we do?"

Shepard smiled demurely, "First, we find Charn. He knows Sharjila better than anyone else. After all, that planet has been Batarian space for far longer than it has been Alliance space. If anyone can find these kidnappers, it is him."

"Charn? Who is he?"

"A Batarian friend of mine. He used to be a captain in the Batarian State Army. We need to find where he is now. Kulikov should be able to locate him."

-(Scene Break)-

When the Spectre returned to his office in C-Sec, he had an unpleasant surprise awaiting him. Ashley Williams greeted him in the doorway, and saluted him, "Sir, Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina want to speak to you. They say it is urgent."

Shepard's eyebrows went up, but he consented. Excusing himself, he accompanied the Alliance soldier. He found Lt. Alenko, Captain Anderson and the Ambassador waiting for him impatiently. "Ah – there you are, Shepard,"

Shepard saluted the older officer. "How may I help, sirs?"

Anderson took up the tale, "Shepard, just a few hours ago, there was a major terrorist attack on Terra Nova by the Batarians. They were led by a bastard named Balak." Shepard's lips had tightened at the name, but he merely looked on. "His group attacked an asteroid that was being moved to Terra Nova's orbit for mining, and they tried to reprogram the asteroid to collide with the planet. Had the attack succeeded, all life on the planet would have been wiped out, and the planet become uninhabitable." The trio were closely watching Shepard for any reactions, but beyond a certain repugnance at the mention of Balak, and a slight wince about the potentially catastrophic consequences of the attack, Shepard betrayed none. "What happened, then, Captain?" he queried.

"The _Normandy_ was nearby when the engineers on the asteroid broadcast a distress signal about their situation. Lt. Alenko here led a team of marines to investigate the distress signal. His team was able to stop the asteroid from colliding with the planet and re-stabilise its orbit."

"That was excellent work, lieutenant," complimented Shepard. "And Balak?"

Lieutenant Alenko answered with a shrug, "He took hostages, Commander. We were forced to let him go."

"Pity," muttered Shepard. "But it comes out the way it is written. But what has all this to do with me?"

"Among the Batarians we captured is a certain Charn."

Shepard was taken aback. "You captured Charn?! He was involved in the attack!?"

"You know him, Commander?" Anderson's voice was quiet and firm.

Shepard nodded slowly, "Yes. Yes, I know him."

"How you know him?" the question came like a pistol shot.

Shepard was thinking furiously. By the time Anderson came to him, he and Udina would have found out all about Charn from Adm. Barzilai. And given the seriousness of the attack and the situation, Adm. Barzilai would have told them everything about Charn – well, everything he knew anyway. The questioning session was precisely to determine how much Shepard would tell them. There was little point in hiding his association with Charn to Anderson. Shepard answered slowly, "He works for the Alliance."

"He works for the Alliance, or for you?" The question had come sharply from Anderson.

"I commanded an operation for the Alliance, which involved him, sir," returned Shepard quietly.

"I see indeed, Commander Shepard. He claims to work for you, however," Anderson's voice was arctic. He continued heavily, "He claimed as much when he was captured. But we did not believe him."

"How was he captured, Captain?"

"He and his men were guarding a bunch of hostages, Commander – a group of engineers. When we approached them, they simply gave themselves up to us," answered Lt. Alenko.

"What was your underling doing attacking a human planet, Shepard?" demanded Udina.

"What is his explanation, Captain?" Shepard questioned Anderson, ignoring the Ambassador;s question, not so much as caring to bestow a look at the man.

"He has offered none, Shepard," replied the Captain. "He merely says that he will speak only with you," returned the Captain. "But can you offer any insight into why he was on Terra Nova, Cmdr. Shepard?"

Shepard answered succinctly, "No." He answered the unspoken question, "He certainly wasn't there on my orders." He paused for a moment and then continued, "I see indeed, Captain. I take it you wish me to accompany you, then?"

"Right away, if you please, Commander," answered Captain Anderson, with Alenko nodding in assent.

Inwardly, Shepard cursed the fate that had thrown this obstacle in his path. Now, securing the release of Charn into his custody would be extremely difficult. Hell, his own freedom was likely to be in question now. But there was nought he could do but to accept the situation.

Shepard rapidly typed a message apiece into his omnitool for Tali and Garrus, and then walked into the _Normandy, _Anderson and Alenko in front of him, and Ashley Williams behind him. They were clearly not going to let him out of their sight.

-(Scene Break)-

A quick flight on the _Normandy_ brought them to the asteroid on which the Batarians had been captured and confined. There were two score Batarians in all, who had been captured, and they had all been incarcerated inside a small bunker where the engineers had been working. Seeing Captain Anderson, and Kaidan Alenko, followed by Commander Shepard, the sentries saluted and permitted him inside. Inside the bunker, Adm. Mikhailovich was sitting on a chair, interrogating a tall Batarian. When Shepard, Anderson, Alenko and Williams appeared in the doorway, saluting the superior officer, Mikhailovich welcomed, "Come in, come in. Shepard, we have been waiting for you. Can you please identify him, Commander?"

"That is Undom'aal Charn, alright, sir," replied Shepard crisply. "Charn, how are you?"

Charn bowed in gratitude at the greeting, but inwardly, was grateful that Shepard had not disowned him – the easy, cordial greeting confirmed as much. Here, at least, was one human who was not going to throw him to the varren. It would be the height of irony if he was killed by humans for trying to save them.

"I see," returned Admiral Mikhailovich, frowning at Shepard's courteous greeting of the Batarian. "He has refused to speak except in your presence. We'd be grateful if you would remain."

"At your service, Admiral," bowed Shepard. "Charn, what happened? Last I heard, you were in the Artemis Tau cluster, trying to find out about a bunch of missing marines."

Charn once more thanked him inwardly, the four eyes fixing on the young human in gratitude. But Shepard's intervention caused the Alliance officers to frown. Williams growled under her breath. Mikhailovich reprimanded, "Commander Shepard, we'll ask the questions, if you please."

"Of course, of course," murmured Shepard contritely. "My apologies, sir!"

With forced politeness, the Admiral once more addressed himself to the Batarian, "Mr. Charn – will you please tell us what you and your men were doing here."

The Babarian began, "I run a mercenary outfit. As Commander Shepard said, we were looking for some missing marines in the Artemis Tau Cluster when we were contacted by a Hegemony front man who wanted to use our services for an attack on a major human colony. We did not know that Terra Nova was the target. We assumed that it was a slave grabbing raid."

Both Adm. Mikhailovich and Capt. Anderson exchanged frowning glances at this. There was fury and contempt in the eyes of all Alliance officers except Shepard.

Capt. Anderson interjected, "Very well – so this Hegemony representative contacted you for what you thought was a slave grab. And you signed on?"

The Batarian grimaced unpleasantly at the human. "No, we found out that the man to lead the raid was Ka'hairal Balak. So we signed on."

Shepard's head snapped up, and his lips tightened, but he said nothing. Adm. Mikhailovich demanded, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Just that my men and I want to kill him!" sneered the Batarian.

"What?!" Everyone in the room except Shepard was startled. But Shepard was simply nodding as if the whole thing finally made sense. Adm. Mikhailovich sneered back, "And to kill Balak, you decided to vapourise the planet of Terra Nova?"

"No, you fool!" snarled the Batarian. "It's because of me and my men that your precious planet's still living!"

Alenko growled at this open disrespect and Ashley snarled, "Mind your tongue, you bastard!", but Capt. Anderson intervened before anyone did anything rash, "Perhaps you could explain, Mr. Charn?"

"Who allowed that engineer to broadcast the distress signal? I did! Who told her the positions of the Hegemony troops? I did! Who kept those engineers safe from Balak? I did!" The Batarian had tilted his head to the right – a clear indication of the contempt he felt towards his interrogators. Shepard sighed – Charn's temper was always a problem, as was his fixation on Balak. Before Charn could continue in the vein, he intervened mildly, "Charn, you said you wanted to kill Balak."

Charn's posture became a little more respectful, and his manner seemed to deflate a little as he replied, "Yes, Commander. When we all boarded ships, I made sure that my men were all in my ship, while Balak and his people were in the other two ships. I managed to replace Balak's personal liquor supplies with a bomb!"

"You did what?!" Both Captain Anderson and Adm. Mikhailovich had jumped. Williams looked sceptical, while Alenko sniffed disdainfully.

Captain Anderson questioned, "You planned to blow up Balak and his ship. What then?"

The Batarian made a gesture that Shepard recognised to be the human equivalent of a shrug. "With Balak dead, the raid would've been called off." Almost as an afterthought, he added, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips, "We had taken care to be paid before hand. Full pay for no work sounds good to me!"

Everyone was looking askance at the Batarian who could contemplate murder of a ship full of mercenaries, without batting an eyelid. Shepard recovered the fastest. "Can you describe Balak's ship, Charn? And the package where the bomb was?"

The Batarian rattled off a quick description of the package and the ship, at which Alenko intervened for the first time addressing himself to the Admiral. "Sir, that ship's here on the asteroid – Balak's people fled in one ship, leaving two others behind. We can check if his bomb's there," nodding towards the captive Charn.

Admiral Mikhailovich slowly murmured, "There is a lot of checking up to be done in this tale." He gestured to the guards, "Take him away and keep him under guard. I shall send for him when I need him!"

Shepard added as the guards began to prod the Batarian mercenary, "Don't take our your frustrations and anger on him – and tell the other guards not to do so either. He really is on our side!"

The two superior officers frowned at this unwarranted interference from their junior. The Admiral turned to Shepard, Alenko and Ashley Williams. "Alenko – you, take Williams and Shepard and try to find this bomb this Batarian spoke of." Shepard stiffened – he was the senior officer, yet Alenko was the one being asked to find the bomb. It showed the depths of distrust for him in the Alliance, as Adm. Mikhailovich continued, "Capt. Anderson and I'll go around interviewing the engineers to see if what this Batarian said is true!"

Everyone saluted the Admiral as they began to file out of the makeshift building.

-(Scene Break)-

Fifteen minutes later, Shepard, Alenko and Williams were combing the ship mentioned by Charn when Ashley Williams called out that she had found the package that Charn had described. Shepard and Lt. Alenko hurried down to the woman, and from her, they retrieved the package. In the presence of Alenko and Williams, Shepard carried the package to a table and with a pocketknife cut the package open. Quickly, he examined the bomb that Charn had put together.

The bomb had been a fairly simple one – a design with Shepard approved of. The explosive had been packed in two layers of plastic explosive, with a silent acid fuse attached to the top. Quickly running his eyes over the open circuitry, he saw that the fuse had worked, the glass capsule had been crushed, the acid had been released from the vial and had burnt through the wire, and the little hammer had hit home, but the detonator's percussion cap had failed to react. Shepard's eyes closed in horror and frustration. "_Gott in Himmel!" _he murmured,while Alenko, who had been looking over the shoulder, whispered, "God! Of all the times, of all the places, it had to happen now!"

"I think I know what happened," murmured Shepard. He turned to Ashley Williams"Was this package in the cargo compartment?"

The Gunnery Chief nodded.

"The unpressurised cargo compartment! They loaded the bomb in there, by mistake," muttered Shepard bitterly. "It would have been forty degrees below freezing in there. No wonder the detonator cap did not react!"

"What do you mean?' snapped Williams.

"Balak's personal liquor supplies," answered Shepard with a twisted smile. "The bastard is famous for carrying his liquor everywhere with him. No one would dare to open his personal liquor supplies, so it was the safest place to put the bomb. And Balak would not drink just before a mission, so he wouldn't find out either!"

Shepard was still lost in his own thoughts when Ashley demanded, "Who is this Balak, skipper?"

Shepard answered precisely, "Captain Ka'hairal Balak, one of the most infamous criminals in the galaxy, is the deputy head of the Hegemony Main Economic Bureau."

"The economic bureau?" Williams' face showed her puzzlement. "I don't understand ..."

Shepard took a deep breath, as he replied, "The bulk of the crimes committed by the Batarians can be laid at the doors of two departments of the Hegemony – the Hegemony Main Security Office, and the Hegemony Main Economic Bureau."

The other two Alliance officers looked at him questioningly, and Shepard nodded, "I'll explain."

Pausing for a moment to arrange his thoughts, Shepard's lips quirked in a cynical smile as he began his explanation, "The Hegemony is determined, you see, that not only should the humans and other species in what it determines to be Batarian space be exterminated, but also that the victims should pay for this privilege. The payment usually comes in three stages."

He sighed as he paced around, chin sunk on chest, "The first stage is when the Batarian slavers or their pirate allies rob the victims of their worldly possessions – their ships, their homes, their factories, their produce, their vehicles, their cash, their clothes, their furniture, and whatever else can be ripped out and transported to Hegemony space. This is what we generally see in the aftermath of Hegemony raids."  
>Williams was looking furious, but Alenko nodded slowly, as Shepard continued, "Once the enslaved get to the Batarian slave camps, they are robbed of their whatever other valuables are on their persons. Back from these camps, run under the watchful eyes of the Hegemony's Economic Bureau, flows a veritable river of gold and silver trinkets, rubies, sapphires, and other jewels, and banknotes of every denomination and description." He turned to smile, a trifle bitterly, at the other two, "Despite Citadel sanctions, much of it, by the way, finds its way into the bank vaults of Thessia and Lusia, for the complacent and self-righteous bankers of these planets guard their clients' possessions jealously, and feel no great compulsion to look into the sources of this wealth."<p>

He continued, "The second stage of the payment is what we hear about from the rescued and the odd escapees. This comes in the form of the living bodies of the victims. The contain calories of energy, you see, and these can be profitably exploited. At this stage, those too weak to work – which includes almost all salarians and quarians – are exterminated as useless. The rest are hired out on a daily basis to the factories, mines and workshops of not only the Hegemony, but also the various Terminus planets. The usual rate is three credits a day for unskilled labour and four credits a day for skilled labour." He shook his head, "The phrase `per day' is misleading. It should be taken to mean as much work as can be extracted from a living body for as little food as possible within the timeframe of a batarian day. Few survive this treatment for more than a year. Hundreds of thousands die each year this way."

He continued, his eyes weary, "The final phase of exploitation comes from the corpses of the victims. The hair of the victims is used in the lining of the shoes. Other uses of the corpses have been attempted, but none have been found economical." Ashley was looking volcanic, and even Alenko was keeping his temper under check with some effort.

"And that – that is the Batarian ..." Alenko's voice trailed away.

"Aye," nodded Shepard. "Twice now, Charn has attempted to assassinate him. The first time, mercenaries in our pay battered Balak's camp with rocket fire. He escaped unhurt. And you saw what happened here." Shepard gave a fatalistic shrug. "The Devil's hand protects him!" Even as Shepard was explaining the situation to his audience, he wondered how he was going to talk his and Charn's way out of the mess.

-(Author's Notes)-

So – Shepard finds himself in a right mess. More explanations, including what Charn was doing to continue in the next chapter. And Charn was looking for the missing marines which is going to be another important sub quest.

By the way, do try to guess where the idea for putting a bomb disguised as a bottle of alcohol comes from. Hint: Vinnitsa, 1943.

As usual, all comments and criticisms are welcome.


	13. Explanations

**The Candidate – 13**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mass Effect. It belongs to Drew Karpyshyn, and Bioware. I am merely playing in their world.

**Explanations**

When Alenko, Shepard, and Williams returned to find their superior officers, they found Capt. Anderson and Adm. Mikhailovich deep in conversation. The three Alliance officers saluted their superiors and were waved into chairs by Capt. Anderson. Alenko swiftly narrated their success in finding the bomb set by Charn, and how it had failed to explode. Capt. Anderson and Adm. Mikhailovich cursed under their breaths. Shepard questioned, "So what do the engineers saved by Charn say, sir?"

"We've only interviewed two of them – a woman named Kate Bowman and the Chief Engineer, Simon Atwell," sighed Capt. Anderson. "The others are being interrogated now."

"And what do the two say?" inquired Shepard.

Capt. Anderson narrated, looking into his datapad to make sure he missed nothing. "Atwell saw nothing of Charn. He says that he and his group of two more engineers managed to sneak away from a group of Batarians who took the rest of his squad prisoner. The group of Batarians he describes agrees with the description of Charn's group. They were trying to contact the outer world when the _Normandy's _ground squad met up with them."

Alenko nodded at this description. His own experiences harmonised with the details provided by the engineer. Capt. Anderson continued, "The other engineer we questioned, Kate Bowman, says that she was working on the roof of the bunker, trying to tune the antennas. She hid there while the Batarians captured the rest of her group – they apparently did not search diligently enough to find her. She says she overheard the searching Batarians speaking about their numbers and positions, and sneaked into the camp radio hut, and began broadcasting her distress call. She was found there a couple of hours later by a group of Batarians, but one Batarian – probably Charn, she cannot distinguish accurately enough between Batarians – persuaded the others that she was more valuable as a hostage than dead, since the _Normandy's _ground team had already landed by then, and there was a chance that a live hostage could be more useful."

Adm. Mikhailovich nodded grimly, and turning to Cmdr. Shepard, "Shepard, what work has this Charn done for the Alliance?"

The tall man adjusted solidly framed glasses, as he considered the question for a moment, and spoke carefully, "He's one of our best Batarian agents, sir."

Mikhailovich's frown deepened, and he spoke quietly, but grim menace overhung his voice. "I am afraid I must ask you to be a little more explicit. What exactly does he do for the Alliance? How does he come to work for you?" Seeing Shepard's hesitation, he continued coldly, "I need full details, Shepard, and you would be wise not to try to hide anything from me!"

Johann Shepard sighed. This was what he had feared. But there was no choice now, and therefore, began, "This is where it all begins, I suppose. In the aftermath of the Torfan raid, the Batarians, both in Alliance space and outside, were more than a little angry and offended by the victory of the Alliance. After all, they believed themselves superior, and this devastating defeat was seriously detrimental to their self-confidence. Also, as you may remember, there were a few excesses committed by the Alliance soldiers on Batarians in Torfan. Even though the Hegemony had used, abused and abandoned these Batarians while their officials and criminals escaped, the Batarians, in general, were still far more resentful of us than of the Hegemony. The Hegemony even had some sympathy among the Batarian civilians. There was a lot of talk about soldiers going underground and continuing the fight against the Alliance." Seeing Capt. Anderson and Adm. Mikhailovich nod, he continued, "Even then, it was apparent that the attacks against Alliance interests were not going to cease, sir. Torfan, as far as the Hegemony was concerned, was just a setback – a severe one, to be sure, but ultimately, not lethal. We in the Intelligence were painfully aware that, in the coming months, the attacks would likely continue, possibly even intensify, but would simply be more distributed, instead of coming from a single source like Torfan. It was clear that the stage was set for surreptitious attacks on Alliance interests by Batarians in Alliance space. We needed clear intelligence about these coming attacks if we were to have any chance of stopping and preventing them."

"Go on," said Adm. Mikhailovich shortly.

Shepard's lips quirked in a withered smile, "Even during the war on Torfan, some Alliance officers and I had begun rescuing Batarian soldiers from the victorious Alliance troops, and protecting them from abuse. Everyone assumed that it was merely my sense of morals that prompted me to help the Batarians. While that motivation doubtless existed, it served another purpose. Many of the soldiers we rescued were genuine Batarian patriots, who had believed in the Hegemony. When they realised the depths of the Hegemony's betrayal of them, some of them would turn against the Hegemony for its betrayal. Their Batarian patriotism would turn into a poisonous hatred when they realised the extent of the Hegemony's betrayal, and the duplicity with which they had been handled, along with the far better behaviour of the Alliance. This, I hoped, to capitalise on, and turn them into sources of information. Thus began an Intelligence operation we called `Operation Faithful'."

The other Alliance officers exchanged glances. Capt. Anderson admonished, "Most would not agree to work for the Alliance, Shepard. And some of them could have pretended to work for you, while working for the Hegemony."

"Both perfectly true, sir. But we were careful. From the set of nearly two hundred officers and soldiers whom we Alliance officers had clearly helped, only six were finally selected to work for us. We tested their reliability towards us for months in far more innocuous tasks – like identifying the prisoners we had taken on Torfan."

"Why was that so important?" asked Ashley.

Shepard turned to the Gunnery Chief, "During the mess following our victory, Williams, we had plenty of prisoners with no identification. While some of them had genuinely lost their IDs, many others had thrown them away for good reasons. The criminals would simply give us an assumed name, mingle with the other Batarian prisoners, and then get away when they were repatriated or released. Who was to say if a man had given his true name and was or was not born on some obscure planet deep in the Hegemony space? It is estimated that about twenty percent of the wanted criminals were in our hands after the Torfan business and who we inadvertently let go, simply because we did not know whom we held. Given that the Asari and the Turians refused to help us with finding the criminals among the prisoners – only the Salarian Union helped us - these Batarians whom we had rescued were really our best hope of identifying criminals. We would have them mingle with the suspected prisoners and help us in catching those who were faking their identities."

"And you recruited Charn, Shepard? He doesn't look like he likes humans to me."

"No, he doesn't," agreed Shepard. "But he hates the Hegemony more than he hates the humans."

Adm. Mikhailovich asked, "Okay, Shepard. So you had recruited them. What were they doing?"

Shepard smiled, "We formed our own organisation – Central Committee for Underground Batarian Resistance – and let them pretend to be the hub of those who wanted to attack the Alliance. Undom'aal Charn was the head of this group."

"I doubt it would be that easy," frowned Alenko.

"It wasn't," returned Shepard distastefully. "We had to work for a long time to establish their credibility. And I don't even want to think of some of the things we had to do to get there. But we succeeded, and managed to lure some very important criminals into our trap. Remember the death of Akuraban three years ago at the hands of the Alliance Special forces, Alenko?" The other officer acknowledged it, and Shepard continued, "That was because he was lured there by Charn and his men. But more importantly, we used him to funnel false intelligence to the other Batarian agitators. Remember the failed attempt at rebellion by the Batarians on Gilead, sirs?" There were nods from the other officers, as Shepard explained, "That rebellion was way smaller because Charn and his men fed Batarians on Camala false information that more Batarian allied mercenaries were on the way, and they must wait for reinforcements before helping in the revolt on Gilead. By the time the Batarians on Camala realised that no forces were really coming, it was too late for them to intervene and the Alliance had stepped in in force and the situation on Gilead was under control." Shepard finished, "Outwardly, Charn has operated a mercenary group who hired out to whoever paid them the most, but he has been working for us for the last five years."

"So why did he join an attack on Terra Nova?"

Shepard wearily brushed his hair from his forehead. He sighed, "Charn and Balak have a personal score to settle. Charn's unit was decimated during the Torfan raid and forced to take brutal casualties, often at pistol point, so that Balak and his Hegemony officers could escape. Also, Charn's brother was hanged by Balak – allegedly for cowardice, but more probably as a warning to everyone that they all had to fight and die where they stood, no matter the casualties or the situation on the ground."

"And so he was willing to endanger Terra Nova?" asked Capt. Anderson accusingly.

"He didn't intend to," pointed out Shepard. "If his plan had worked, Balak would have been blown up and there would have been no attack. A win-win situation for everyone."

"But it didn't, Shepard," pointed out Adm. Mikhailovich. "His `plan' very nearly wiped out the colony."

Shepard shrugged, "So, what happens now, sirs?"

Adm. Mikhailovich answered, "He and his men will stand trial for making war on the Alliance. It is upto an Alliance court to decide his fate."

"I see, sir." Shepard's voice was arctic. "But in the meantime?"

"In the meantime, he shall be escorted to the prison in Scott [1]"

"If I may make a suggestion to the Admiral?" demurred Shepard.

"Go on."

"Please release him into my custody. I promise to make him available in any Alliance court, and I will stand guarantee for his appearance. In the meantime, he is vital to our investigations in the Traverse."

Adm. Mikhailovich didn't even hesitate. "I'm afraid that is impossible, Cmdr. Shepard."

"May I inquire the reason, sir?"

"His conduct here leaves a lot unanswered, Cmdr. Shepard," replied Adm. Mikhailovich, frowning.

"He is part of my team, sir, and I will answer for his conduct."

"By all accounts, Cmdr. Shepard, you might be answering for some of your own conduct one of these days. Ignoring commands, running your own private intelligence networks with Alliance money, thwarting Alliance plans for personal benefit - did I leave anything out?" purred Adm. Mikhailovich. "Anyway, this Batarian's crimes cannot be simply swept under the carpet."

"Crimes, sir? The evidence here inculpates him nowise. All he's done is help the Alliance, in despite of his ties to his own flesh and blood. He brought many of the worst Hegemony criminals to book for the Alliance, and you want to treat him as a war criminal?!" There was disgust in Shepard's voice.

"Cmdr. Shepard," replied Adm. Mikhailovich sternly, "your protege nearly destroyed a planet. No evidence here exculpates him. We've only your word that he really is your agent and that he tried to kill Balak. The fact that he is your agent makes your evidence hardly impartial. In fact, if you weren't a Spectre, you would be accompanying your minion to the prison in Scott. Unfortunately, you are beyond my jurisdiction. The only certainty now is that your agent tried to destroy a colony, and nearly succeeded at it!"

Shepard gave no indication of discomfiture at the Admiral's threat. "Very well, sir!" he replied.

Capt. Anderson intervened diplomatically. "Shepard, we simply cannot let him go. You've no authority to take charge of Alliance prisoners, even if you are a Spectre. Surely you must realise that we cannot eschew due process?"

Shepard shrugged ungraciously, as he returned coldly, "I understand a lot more. However, I should like to speak to Charn before I leave - privately."

Adm. Mikhailovich and Capt. Anderson exchanged glances. Both of them had realised that Shepard would demand an interview with Charn, and that was something that could not be denied him. As a Spectre, it was his prerogative. Adm. Mikhailovich sighed, "Very well, Shepard. You have one hour."

-(Scene Break)-

Shepard and Ashley Williams were seated with the tall former Batarian State army captain. Shepard spoke calmly to Charn, "I have spoken to the officers here, but they have refused my request to release you conditionally. However, I shall take it up with their superiors on Arcturus. I hope to get better results there."

Charn sneered, "Good luck!" He added resignedly, "I shall probably be dead by then."

"The Alliance does not murder prisoners!" protested Williams angrily. Her outburst caused both Shepard and Charn to glance pityingly at her.

"I don't think, in this instance, you have to worry too much, Charn," returned Shepard cynically. "You are Adm. Mikhailovich's ticket to further promotions. Your trial will bring him much prestige. Dead, you are of no use to him. He won't kill the goose that lays golden eggs."

"A comforting thought, I am sure," muttered Charn.

Shepard spoke, and his voice was low and worried, "In the meantime, Charn, please don't do anything that might even remotely give them an excuse to harm you."

The tall Batarian laughed, "Don't worry, Commander. I am not suicidal. Nor are my men." He broke off his sentence, and tilted his head left – a clear sign of the respect he felt for Shepard, "It's been a privilege working for you, Commander."

"I'm not letting you off the hook that easily," smiled Shepard. "You and I still have a great deal of work to do."

"Even if I am acquitted, my cover is blown, Johann," The Batarian's eyes were fixed on the Commander's midnight black eyes, framed by the solid glasses.

Shepard shook his head, "There is a lot you can do for the Alliance even without the double game you have been playing. And that – well, we both knew that it wasn't going to last forever." He continued pensively, "I fear that your cover had probably been compromised before now, Charn. That was why Balak wanted to recruit you to this mission. He must have suspected something – after all, it is only so many of the Hegemony's raids that could fail before the penny dropped somewhere in Khar'shan. He suspected your allegiances and wanted to bind you closely enough that you could never return to the Alliance, even if you were aligned with it at any time. With genocide on your soul, you would be forced to be loyal to him for eternity. That was one reason why he was keen on such a destructive raid."

Both Ashley and Charn looked askance at that Commander's observation. "What other reasons could be there, Commander?" asked Williams.

"The Geth attack on Eden Prime, of course," returned Shepard unhesitatingly. "If this attack had succeeded, Terra Nova would have been destroyed, and it could have also been blamed on an accident or the Geth. There would be no evidence to show that the Batarians perpetrated it. The Alliance would have looked weak, and incapable of protecting its citizens. That would have probably meant an exodus of humans from the Traverse and the Batarians would have been the winners by default, since they could colonise the planets at leisure."

They all paused for a moment, and then Charn continued, "Johann, the marines you asked my people to look out for – well, we found them."

"Go on," encouraged Shepard.

"My men found them on Edolus – some of their bodies, at least."

"I don't understand," replied Shepard frowning.

"They seem to have been killed by a thresher maw. Most of the bodies were … mangled beyond recognition."

"_Himmel! _A bunch of marines would not be so careless to walk into a thresher maw nest!"

The Batarian shrugged, "They seem to have been lured there by a false distress beacon."

"But who?" broke in Ashley Williams.

The Batarian conceded, "I have no idea."

"Do you have the false beacon core?" asked Shepard.

The Batarian reached into an inner pocket, and handed a small packet to the Commander.

"Good luck, Charn. Take care of yourself. I will see Matron Laelia Crispon on Ilium, send her here within four and twenty hours, and take your legal defence on myself. In the meantime, I will also make sure that the rest of our men are safe," promised Shepard. With that, the Spectre and the Gunnery Chief bade goodbye to the Batarian prisoner, and left the asteroid.

-(Scene Break)-

The return trip to the Citadel on the _Normandy _was tense. Ashley was conscious of the glares of the crew, and was sitting quietly on her chair with Shepard opposite her in another. After the Shepard had returned to the _Normandy, _he had turned extremely uncommunicative and had immersed himself in his datapad and omni tool, working on something that Ashley could not fathom. When he gave an astonished exclamation, Ashley Williams looked up and was shocked at how much his appearance had changed. Gone was the quiet, self-confident officer that had handled the situation on Terra Nova's asteroid with a calm grace. He was now white as a sheet of paper, and his lips were clamped down in an attempt at a semblance of control. He had draped a shawl around his shoulder, even though the controlled climate inside the _Normandy _did not warrant it. Ashley got the distinct impression that he was doing it to keep from shivering. "God, commander! Are you alright?"

Shepard answered jerkily, pouring himself a glass of water from the carafe on the table. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine." She could see that he was trying to get his thoughts in order, and his emotions under control.

"Are you sure, Commander? You look like death!"

"I'm fine," returned Shepard almost impatiently. "Don't worry, Williams!"

Ashley Williams nodded, and questioned, "What now?"

"I'm off to Arcturus," replied Shepard.

"Why, Commander?" inquired the surprised Gunnery Chief.

"Charn had a lot of men still out in the field. If he was compromised, and Balak was on to him, his subordinates are in danger. They need to be warned. Also, Charn has a family – they need to be moved to safety. Barzilai needs to be warned about this."

-(Scene Break)-

While Shepard had told Williams the truth about his destination, his reasons for going to Arcturus station were much more complicated. After he had met with Adm. Barzilai and told him of Charn's predicament, he was assured by his former superior that everything that could be done would be done.

Having finished his meeting with Adm. Barzilai, Shepard booked into a small hotel. An elderly receptionist sat reading Voltaire's `_Le Siecle de Louis XIV_'. Seeing Shepard's entrance, she murmured, "_Est-ce-que je peux vous aider, monsieur_? (Can I help you, sir?)

Shepard replied politely, "_Ma cle de chambre, madame." _(My room key, madam.)

The woman inquired, _"Numero de chambre?" _(Room number?)

The Spectre returned, _"Cinquante." _(Fifty.)

The woman fumbled beneath the desk, extracted a key card and beckoned, _"Suivez-moi!" _(Follow me).

The Spectre followed the woman into an elevator, and then was led into a dimly lit corridor. The woman opened a door that was clearly labelled `50', and led him inside. They duo were barely inside, when the woman closed the door and Shepard found himself hugged by the woman. "Johann!"

He returned the hug, "_Mutti!" _(Mummy!)

After the usual greetings and protestations of affection from both of them, the elder Shepard gestured her son to sit on the sofa, "So what is so important, Johann, that you had to see me at top priority?"

The Spectre spoke carefully, "I came across some information that is … extremely sensitive. You will have doubtless heard of Adm. Kahoku's missing marines?"

His mother nodded, and Shepard continued, "One of my people in the Traverse found them on the planet Edolus in the Artemis Tau cluster. They had all been killed by thresher maws – lured into it by a false Alliance distress beacon, in fact."

Capt. Shepard's nose wrinkled in distaste. "Batarian work? Or is it other pirates that did that?"

The Spectre's face turned absolutely serious, as he leant forward and whispered in reply, "It is possible, but I don't think so. In fact, I think it was done by someone within the Alliance!"

"What?! You are joking!" Captain Shepard's mouth was hanging open in utter astonishment.

Commander Shepard looked at her solidly, but said nothing. The older woman composed herself in a few seconds. "You are serious about this," she murmured. "But how can you be so sure?"

"Because most of the code used in the beacon was written by me! I disassembled the software in the beacon core and I found that most of the code is mine, right down to the comments, and dummy variables! Only some parts of the code, which refer to the regiment's ID were altered!" returned her son grimly.

"What do you mean?" Capt. Shepard's lips had thinned so much that they seemed in positive danger of disappearing completely.

"Mutti, as you remember, I wrote the code for the Alliance Distress protocols as part of my masters' thesis. The person who altered the code to what I found in the beacon needed access not only to my source code, but also to the original keys I used while writing the software. The only copies of the source code should be in your department! Every other copy has been erased – even I, who wrote the software, don't have a copy, nor does the university where I did my work have one. So how did someone get round to altering the source code to fake the distress signals?"

There was a long silence, and then finally, Captain Shepard spoke, "Anything else you have discovered about this attack?"

"Only one thing. This is not the first attack on a unit of marines by the thresher maws. The first attack was on Akuze five years ago. And two years ago, there was another similar attack on Asahi – marines lured using a false signal. Same _modus operandi _ in the second case."

He continued, "I would say, Mutti, someone is deliberately targeting Alliance marines luring them into thresher maw nests. Someone who has full access to Alliance records, including those of your department."

Captain Shepard rose from her seat. "Thanks for bringing this to my notice, Johann. I will look into the matter."

-(Author's Notes)-

I am using the ranks of the army, and navy separately. In the game, they are a mish-mash, and very confused. I prefer to keep them separate.

By the way, do guess where the inspiration for `Central Committee for Underground Batarian Resistance' comes from. Hint – Moscow, 1921. There is a considerable amount of curious history here.

Congratulations to Janizary for correctly recognising that Charn's bomb plot was based on `Operation Spark' – an attempt where _Generalmajor _Henning von Tresckow and his adjutant Fabian von Schlabrendorff tricked Col. Karl Brandt into taking a bomb disguised as bottles of cognac on board Hitler's special plane. However, the bomb failed to go off and surprisingly enough, Fabian von Schalbrendorff managed to retrieve the package from Karl Brandt, without the SS ever finding out what the two officers had attempted.

As usual, all comments and criticisms are welcome.

[1] - Scott is the capital of Terra Nova.


	14. Digital Inquiries

**The Candidate**

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. I am merely playing in the world. It belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware.

**Digital Inquiries**

Berengere Shepard had been greatly disquieted by what her son had discovered. She returned to her office, with her son in tow. As Johann Shepard was scheduled to fly back to the Citadel the next day, during the remainder of the day, he had decided to aid his mother with the investigations of who had accessed his codes. As the overall head of the Science Projects carried out by the Alliance Intelligence wing, Berengere had full access to almost all of its files, and had temporarily granted her son security clearance to check who had accessed his files.

A few hours later, Johann Shepard had set up his own procedures for avoiding any suspicions about checking who had accessed the old records. He sat down at a terminal in his mother's office, and began checking his files. The Spectre had decided to begin his investigations at the beacon that had broadcast the false distress signal. He accessed the binary1 that he had originally created, and his fingers danced on the keyboard at his console. A long cryptographic key appeared on the screen. Berengere questioned, "What is that?"

"The cryptographic key of the distress signal of the 2nd company, 5th battalion, 103rd Marine Division – the company that signalled for help, leading those marines into the thresher maw death trap. I generated it from the program I wrote originally." He gestured towards the code that he was running on the terminal. He inserted the beacon core that Charn had given him into his omni tool and hit a few more keys. Another long cryptographic key, quite different from the one that had previously been generated, appeared on the screen of the omni tool. "And what is this?" inquired Berengere, pointing at the new key. Johann's voice was barely more than a whisper when he replied, "The key of the 2nd company, 5th battalion, 103rd Marine Division – the company that signalled for help."

Berengere's voice was sharp and clear, "Excuse me?!"

When her son made no attempts to answer her remonstrance, she spoke, "Can a company distress signal have multiple keys?"

"No," answered her son, facing her finally. His eyes were troubled and worried.

"So what happened?" Berengere's voice was cold, grim and hard.

Johann replied, "The binary which was created here and the one on the beacon are generating different cryptographic keys." He typed more keys on his omni tool and the beacon began transmitting the distress signal. Hastily Johann killed the distress signal.

"What did you do?" demanded Berengere.

The Spectre replied, "The beacon seems to be reacting to my key as well."

Berengere put together the information her son had thrown out. "So – the distress beacon is working with two keys?"

The Spectre was hitting more keys. The binary on the terminal threw up an error message. He turned to face his mother, "My program here," he nodded towards the screen, "does not react to the new key that the beacon generated!"

"So – someone modified your binary to accept the new key?"

Johann nodded, his eyes still focussed on the terminal. "It looks that way."

"So who modified your files?"

Johann Shepard typed a few more commands and found the log files where the times when his finalised codes had been accessed were stored. All the computers in the records section were on an entirely different network and were not connected to the outside world at all, so it could not be hacked from the outside. Alliance Intelligence Science Projects Records had a policy whereby, every access to any restricted file was logged in three separate computers, each behind its own firewall and complete security, with regular audits to prevent their being tampered with. There was special software to monitor the files, and to check for modifications and deletions of entries, and the timestamps of access. The idea that anyone would be able to modify all of them without anyone being the wiser was most unlikely. For the time being, Johann Shepard discounted the possibility. Looking at the log files, he spoke to his mother, "The software source codes and original keys have been accessed only by three groups of people, _Mutti__2_. The testers, the implementer and the auditor. All people who had every reason to access the files."

Berengere leant back in her chair, she answered, "While this was not entirely unforeseen, this means one of the two things – that someone outside broke the code, in which case, it will be harder to find him, or else, the identities of one of those who accessed the files was forged by someone else. The latter possibility bears much easier investigation – so let us try that first."

Accordingly, her son began looking at the times of access, and announced to his mum, "The auditor had accessed the files about an year ago – unless the first two attacks by thresher maws on marines were coincidences, this person is unlikely to be the mole. Let us put him aside for the moment. That leaves us the other two possibilities – the implementer and the tester. Both of them had accessed the files more than five years ago. The tester accessed the files thirty two times over three days. The implementer accessed the code eight times over a period of two days. Let us check them."

Johann Shepard knew the two testers – Ajay Chauhan and Keigo Hosokawa – both of whom had interacted with him when he had explained the software to them, what they were looking for and what the inputs and outputs represented. They had accessed the files two and thirty times in a space of just three days, the seventh, the eighth and the ninth of July, 2177 – after all, testing the files with the given inputs for the expected outputs did not require many accesses. The implementer had accessed the source code even fewer times – it took very few accesses to compile the source code, strip it of the debugging information and generate the final executable file, and compare the results of two compilations to make sure that the builds were identical when compared against each other. There had been only one implementer – Alessandro Sanguinetti, and he had accessed the codes , twice on the fourteenth of July, 2177 and six times on the eighteenth of August, 2177. Johann Shepard requested his mother, "_Mutti_, first, we need to check if the three had indeed been in the building on the days mentioned."

Alliance Intelligence Science Project Records had a system in place where any person not working in the department would be issued a one day pass by the Department on the authorisation of either the head of Alliance Intelligence Science Projects, her deputy, or the head of the Records section. The identification of the visitors was stored in the central computers. The project they were working on would be mentioned, and the corresponding files' access granted to them.

Berengere, sitting at her terminal, called up the desk signature logs, checked the identities of those who had visited on the days. The identities were the standard Alliance identities and they were very hard to forge – the data had to be entered in several different networks and systems to be validated. She found the three names her son had mentioned. She replied with some relief, "Yes. They were here."

Johann murmured, a touch deprecatingly, "Say, rather, that their IDs were here."

"Meaning?"

"_Mutti, _how do you know it was truly them who entered their IDs? Call up the closed circuit holo footage for the days. Let us check at regular intervals, if the people were indeed there."

His mother looked thoughtfully at him for a long moment, and then acquiesced. She called up the footage for the three days and they checked that the two testers were indeed at their seats the entire two days. Similarly, she checked the implementer and found that he was indeed at his seat on both the days. The first time, he had been there for just one hour, and the second time, he had been at his terminal three times, each time nearly an hour. Relieved, she answered, "It seems that you were indeed mistaken, Johann. Someone outside has broken your code."

Johann looked sceptical. "The first attack was barely three months after the implementer got my code. There would not have been sufficient distress signals to break my codes so comprehensively that someone could generate a new key. Even if someone had stolen a beacon from the manufacturer, it would be very hard to generate new keys exactly for the divisions."

Berengere looked stolidly at him, but her son was peering closely at the times at which his file had been accessed by the implementer, "_Mutti_, look at the access times the second time – the eighteenth of August – the implementer was here. It looks like the code was compiled and compared thrice, at different times. Why?"

"Why what?"

"The code was running fine and the testers had verified it. The first time the implementer was here on the fourteenth of July, he complied and compared it only once, produced the binary, and took it with him – that is why there were two accesses, one for the compilation pass and one for the comparison pass. If there was a bug, if the binary were defective, or he was unable to compile it properly, he would have been back here immediately – the next day, informing us there was a problem with our code and that he was unable to produce the needed binary. But he did not do that. Instead, he waited for over a month, and then came here, compiled and compared the code three times on the same day, and once more left without telling us why he needed to do it."

Berengere was quite for a moment, digesting what her son had said. She spoke slowly, "Do you think the implementer did something to modify your binary?"

Her son looked at her at last. "I don't know. But without a full analysis of the computer's solid state drives that existed at the time, we cannot say any more."

But Berengere had had another idea. She typed a few keys on her terminal. Two names appeared on her console – Gal Steinberg and Ellie Rickman, showing a few entries next to each. Her lips thinned, "You were right, Johann, about the implementer taking away multiple binaries on the eighteenth of August." Seeing her son's questioning glance, she explained, "We don't allow external storage devices inside, Johann, and indeed, no one can hook an external storage device to any terminal here. If this implementer needed to take the binary for the manufacturer away from here, he would have needed one of our storage devices. When he wanted to copy the binary, he would have requested the administrator at the time to do it for him. She would use one of the department's storage devices to copy the file that he had authorisation for on to it. And when he takes the department's storage device out of the building, he would have needed the administrator to sign off on it. Hence this record," she pointed to the holo-screen. She hit more keys. "The implementer took away the binary three times on one of the department's storage devices. Gal signed off on his first two binaries and Ellie signed off on his last one."

Johann's mind was racing. So they had created three binaries. Why? Was there any difference between the binaries? He spoke quietly, "_Mutti – _log in with administrator's privileges and let me connect my omni tool the machine the implementer used! There is something I need to check."

Eight hours of hard work had yielded Johann several snippets of files. It was past midnight when he explained to his mother, "_Mutti – _when files are changed, the actual data often does not go away – the magnetisations still remain. The file deletions ensure that only links to the actual data – or the magnetisation changes, in hardware terms – are lost. I have been trying to scavenge up the logs for the implementer's three different compilations. Since it is the same log file for the three compilations, when the final binary was done, many parts of the old compilations logs would be overwritten, but if they are different, the differences might be still around as variations in the magnetisation changes. I wanted to see if the build patterns3 for the three compilations were different. No one would compile the same program three times to generate the necessary binaries, unless there was a reason. I think the three binaries compiled were different. The implementer only left us my original, final binary to make us think that my binary had been implemented!

"So what did he really do?"

Johann glanced at his omni tool and answered, "_Mutti_, the build pattern in the implementer's first and final compilation logs and the tester's compilation logs are the same as mine. The build pattern in the second compilation logs are different though!"

"What does that mean?"

Johann did not even hesitate as he replied, his voice was grim, "Another file was compiled along with my files in the implementer's second compilation of the three compilations of the code and was linked to the binary." He pointed to the screen, which showed the way the binary had been compiled and explained to his mother, "Someone inserted a new file called 'Marinesids' to be compiled with my code to generate the final binaries!"

"What did the file do?"

Johann answered quietly, "Someone used this `Marineids' file to be compiled with my code to generate an additional key for all the companies in every battalion, brigade or division in the Alliance Navy! No wonder they were able to fool the marines with the false distress beacons! And no wonder they needed my source codes to generate false distress beacons!"

"Why so?" questioned Berengere.

"My program generates unique IDs for all the companies, and then there is an inbuilt verification against the last known position of the unit with Alliance HQ to see if it is a true signal! Also, once inserted into a hardware, my code makes it impossible to use the same key again for a different hardware. Just stealing a beacon and planting it near a thresher maw nest would not work if the company was either too far away, or else, the company signalled again, from another location nearby. Nor would simply duplicating the key work, since the same key cannot be inserted into more than one hardware. Someone has gone to great lengths to create this second key. They had to use this fake distress signal, and keep the real company nearby and unable to signal for the distress signal to be taken seriously."

"Is this `Marineids' file here?" asked the head of the Science Projects.

Johann nodded, "It was deleted, but most of it is here. It is hard to say with absolute certainty, but I am almost sure that it causes my program to generate two keys for every company in the Alliance instead of just one as I had originally designed! Since the binary allows two keys and generates them itself, it would allow the second key to be accepted in every transmission!"

"But why the second time?" inquired Berengere. "Why not do it the first time and replace it with the real binary the second time?"

Johann returned slowly, "I don't know."

Berengere Shepard's face was blank for a long moment, and then a slow smile blossomed on it. She hit more keys on her console. She explained, "I am calling up the Closed Circuit holo for every terminal in use that day between the arrival of the implementer and the Gal's signature for his exit with the second binary. Let us see what we can make from that."

She first called up the desk logs to see the number of guests passes that had been issued for the day. Three passes had been issued. She then began scanning the entire hall with the terminals from the arrival of the implementer.

At first, only the terminal with Alessandro Sanguinetti was in use. About fifteen minutes after the implementer had arrived, another person – a tall blond woman in a naval uniform – entered the hall. Berengere's lips parted in surprise. "Who is she and how did she get in?"

"She is not of your staff?" inquired Johann.

His mother shook her head in denial. "Nor one of the other visitors?"

"The next permitted visitor is not due for another forty five minutes," snapped his mother, pointing to the times at which the permits for the three visitors of the day had been signed.

The newly arrived woman authoritatively strode to a secluded terminal in a corner, and began to work without any preamble. She worked quietly, efficiently for two hours. In the meantime, the implementer had finished making his binaries, and under Gal Steinberg's supervision, copied the binary on one of the department's storage devices and left the building. Roughly two hours after the woman had entered, she rose from her terminal, and with no more ceremony than when she had entered, exited the room.

Mother and son exchanged glances quietly. The Spectre whispered, "Let us view the footage for the entire day quickly!"

They continued skimming the footage. The implementer arrived a second time, built his binary, and then left with the department's storage drive once more. After the implementer had left the room, the mystery woman came a second time, and worked for a few minutes on a secluded terminal and then left the room. Having seen the woman leave for the second time, Berengere switched off the closed circuit holo footage.

"I think we can guess what happened," murmured Berengere. "The woman came in here – probably with this implementer's ID somehow duplicated, added the file and modified the build pattern, and left, allowing the implementer to make his second binary which was implemented. Then, she returned after the second binary was taken, undid her changes, and allowed the implementer to make the third binary. After all, the door card readers only check the ID while entering, you don't need one to leave the room. So, she could have come in using his duplicated ID and since he was registered, she could get in as well."

"Why didn't she forge a new Alliance ID for herself?" asked Johann Shepard.

"Too dangerous," returned the head of Alliance Intelligence Science Projects. "When we issue a pass for someone to enter the records section, the person is thoroughly vetted. Trying to build a complete background for someone who is clean as a whistle is not easy to accomplish. The best way is to do what the woman has done – duplicate the ID of someone who has entrance to this place!"

The Spectre nodded, but had another question. "How did she get in to the building itself? Everyone coming in is accounted for."

But Berengere was already calling up the desk logs at the main entrance to the building. She announced, "Only two groups outside my staff were here during that time. One was Captain Calhoun and his deputy – they were here to meet with Dr. Amit Mitra, the head of the genetics lab. The other was Rear Adm. Sonia Hudson and her staff – they were here on an inspection of some gadgets that were to be delivered to her group."

The Spectre's lips had gone white. He whispered, "Sonia Hudson, the head of the Alliance Black Ops?"

"The very same," nodded his mother grimly. But let us check the desk holos at the times they arrived." Mother and son swiftly scanned the footage. About five minutes after the implementer had arrived, another group had arrived – a group containing the mystery woman. In the centre of the group was a very famous personage. One that could not be mistaken. Rear Admiral Sonia Hudson, the head of Alliance Black Ops was not one to be forgotten. Mother and son exchanged a horrified glance.

There was a long, awkward silence, and then, Johann broke it, "I think we should speak to this implementer."

But his mother shook his head. "No, Johann. You and I have done all we can for the moment. Now we know that the binaries implemented on the beacons are compromised, and all Alliance distress beacons can probably be hacked at will by someone with the second key. This is a very huge problem and every regiment and company will need to be alerted about the dangers."

"Can't we just write another code to blacklist the second binary and upload the patches to the beacons?" inquired Johann Shepard.

But his mother shook her head. "You are thinking in small blocks, Johann. There is an urgent need to launch a full investigation now and this investigation is something more than you and I can handle quietly. There are too many wide open questions as well. First, if someone broke into your code and recompiled it with other files, there is no telling what other projects have been compromised similarly. Second, it is Adm. Kahoku's marines that were killed – he is the only one with an authority to start an investigation at that end about what happened there and how they could have been lured into the thresher maw nest. Third – why was this drive core left behind? If someone lured the marines into the thresher maws, why didn't they take the core with them, rather than leave behind this evidence for us to find out. Finally, what was the reason for luring the marines into the maws? All this requires a full investigation."

Johann bowed. His mother was right. "So what do we do?"

"I will talk to Shuka tomorrow. We'll begin a full investigation at this end, and find out who and what have been compromised. And coordinate with Adm. Kahoku, to see what he can discover about this affair."

Johann Shepard rose to his feet, and kissed his mum on the cheek, "_Viel Gluck, Mutti! Gib Acht auf dich!" _(Good luck, mum! Take care of yourself!)

-(Scene Break)-

While Shepard and his mother were investigating the broken Alliance beacon, Tali, sitting at the C-Sec headquarters, picked up two more messages on her receiving device. Both of them were burst transmissions, and both the messages were terse and brief. The first one read, `_Shepard met Tela Vasir in the Flux. Talked with her over supper. Shepard's Batarian assistant Charn caught in the attack on Terra Nova. Shepard is leaving with Williams and Adm. Anderson to Terra Nova. Message ends'_

The second message was just as Spartan in its brevity. `_Shepard claims that his Batarian assistant is innocent. Circumstances point to said Batarian being Shepard's double agent. But Mikhailovich is __still holding Charn. Charn had found a bunch of Adm. Kahoku's missing marines lured into a thresher maw nest using a fake distress beacon. He gave the beacon to Shepard and Shepard analysed it. I think he found something in the beacon. He's currently in Arcturus station, meeting Adm. Barzilai. Message ends.'_

The young Quarian was horrified. Who could be keeping such close tabs on Shepard and the team? And more importantly, who was being kept in the loop this way? There were no answers and Tali was determined to discover the traitor

-(Author's Notes)-

I hope this part is not too technical. I tried to pare it down to something everyone could follow. But computer based investigations are always involved in both hardware and software conventions and limitations, so it is not easy to make the chapter light on the readers.

Do guess who the traitor is, by the way. That little bit is going to play a very vital role in the whole saga.

The `Central Committee for Batarian Resistance' is based on `Operation Trust' launched by the NKVD (early Soviet Intelligence). The operation created a false anti-communist group running under the auspices of the Soviets themselves, and was used to funnel false intelligence to the true anti-communists and also to lure in anti-Bolshevik bigwigs into traps in Russia. The anti-communists outside Russia thought that they were going to Russia to meet with the Monarchists and the Whites, but were trapped by the Bolsheviks and eliminated. Prominent captures include Boris Savinkov and Sidney Reilly (the spy on whom James Bond is based).

As usual, all comments and criticisms are welcome.

1A binary is the executable code that is actually run when the program in question is run.

2German for `mum'.

3A build pattern lists the way in which the different files are to be compiled and linked (and in what order) to obtain the final executable code (binary).


	15. Physical Inquiries

**The Candidate – 15**

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. I am merely playing in the world. It belongs to Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware.

**Physical Inquiries**

When Shepard returned to the Citadel, he had Tali waiting for him. She immediately filled him on the discovery of two more transmissions from the C-Sec. Shepard listened to the news with a grim expression on his face. For once, his lips were set in a hard line, as he queried, "When did you pick up the messages, Tali?"

The young Quarian replied, "The first was just before you left the Citadel, Shepard. The second was just after you sent word saying that you were going to _Arcturus_ Station."

"The exact times of the transmissions? Do you have them?"

"Aye," returned Tali.

"The frequencies?" One communications expert was now speaking to another.

"A narrow band of ultra high frequency, Shepard."

"Makes life easier for us," muttered Shepard. "But why didn't they simply make it the regular high frequencies band? It would be very easy to mix it with the regular traffic, and would be quite impossible for us to track."

"Burst transmission would be impossible in that range, Shepard," pointed out Tali. "And if they are using burst transmissions with very short radio traffic intervals, they may have counted on not being found."

Shepard said nothing. His face was grave and preoccupied. Here on the Citadel, there were a lot of people with nothing better to do than to listen to each others' radio chatter. He inquired, "Was this in the same code?"

"Yes," returned Tali.

Shepard nodded, "Tali – were you able to locate the transmitters?"

"But you didn't want to find the transmitter ..."

"That was eight and forty hours ago, Tali. Things are changing. Did you find it?"

Tali nodded. "The first from a public computer terminal near the human embassy. The second was from the C-Sec public terminals."

"Whoever it is is tempting Providence sending all his messages from the C-Sec terminals," muttered Shepard. "What was your localisation?"

"Five square metres," returned the young Quarian, almost proudly.

"Excellent work, Tali," applauded Shepard. "You are really a delight to work with. I want you to listen for the next transmission, and note down the time you get. Then, also, localise it to the best of your ability."

The young Quarian nodded and left.

-(Scene Break)-

While Shepard was away on the asteroid of Terra Nova, Garrus was investigating the activities of Fist. Shepard had told him to keep Fist and his thugs under surveillance, so he was going to be thorough. He had broken into the home of Fist under the guise of a repairman – after he himself had sabotaged the heating in Fist's apartment – and bugged all communication facilities, apart from placing listening devices in all rooms. He did not expect Fist to actually make any incriminating calls, or meetings, but it would help still with who met him and who did not. Then, he had methodically covered the complete surveillance of Fist's immediate lieutenants, and then, he had just as meticulously tapped others whose conversations could yield useful intelligence. In this net were included Fist's lawyer, his accountant, and his doctor. However, actionable intelligence – or even, useful intelligence – concerning Saren was eluding him, and he had to report on what he had obtained from Fist.

When Shepard returned to the Citadel, he found Garrus waiting for him.

"Commander," Garrus was speaking, "There is no intelligence we have connecting Saren with Fist."

"What did you find?" inquired Shepard.

Garrus reeled off the list of people who were being kept under surveillance, and the information that he had obtained. There was some intelligence regarding other criminal activity – he narrated some details of Fist's involvement in extortion rackets, and his smuggling in illegal mods and red sand onto the Citadel – but there was nothing about Saren." Finally, he related, "There is a human doctor on the Wards called Chloe Michel. When thugs get injured, they go to her to patch them up without reporting the wounds to C-Sec. For a substantial fee, she patches up the thugs and keeps her mouth shut."

"I see," returned Shepard. "What about her?"

"She is also Fist's private doctor and in our surveillance on Fist and his thugs, Tali and I bugged her office to check what, if anything, is going on there. It appears that the woman is being blackmailed."

"Hardly surprising," murmured Shepard, his voice dripping with contempt. "If you mess with criminals, you will probably end up being blackmailed by them." Almost as an aside, he remarked, "How much is she paying?"

"She isn't being blackmailed for money." Consulting his notes, he continued, "In her case, she is being blackmailed for some chemical called adrophinone. She has handed the chemical once three days ago, and is being blackmailed for more."

Shepard's manner had become much more attentive. "Adrophinone?! You are sure?"

"Indeed, Commander," nodded Garrus. Seeing that Shepard's attention was riveted, he queried, "Is that important?"

Shepard murmured slowly, "It could be."

"But what is it?" inquired Garrus.

Shepard returned, "It is a secondary Krogan hormone. Among other things, it is used to treat very rare glandular disorders in Krogan."

"How do you know that?" demanded the former C-Sec operative in evident surprise.

"I majored in Chemistry in the university, and I am also trained as a field medic – which means that I know the anatomy of every major citadel species. It is my job to know these things. But let be – who would want this?"

"We don't know," replied Garrus. "All we know is that it is being delivered to the recipient near Morlan's shop in the Wards tonight."

"Has this doctor complained to Fist or his thugs about this?" inquired Shepard.

"Yes, Commander. But they did not care."

Shepard ordered, "I see. Find out who is receiving this chemical. Find out what you can about the recipient. But under no circumstances are you to confront him. And report to me."

"You think this is important, Commander?" questioned a surprised Garrus. He had not expected that little detail to be of any importance.

"It could be," answered Shepard. "More importantly, what interests me is why anyone would want to blackmail for it. Any doctor could easily order it, and it would be delivered. But why is someone blackmailing for it?"

"Some illegal hack job about Krogan genophage cures?" suggested Garrus. "There are many quacks selling fake cures to Krogan."

"It is possible," returned Shepard slowly. "But two things militate against that. First, this is Fist's doctor. A lowly Krogan hack would not dare try blackmailing Fist's doctor, and more importantly, would not have got away with it, as he did three days ago, nor would Fist's thugs have allowed their doctor to be blackmailed. If they did not care, it indicates that they are willing to condone it, or they are involved in it. We are not aware of any operation of Fist that involves illegal research. And Fist is the alpha dog of this section of the Wards - he would not allow another group to blackmail his doctor without repercussions. If he is willing to look the other way, it indicates that it is being done, with his consent, possibly for someone much bigger than him. I want to know who that is."

"And what is the second reason?" asked Garrus.

"Why this particular chemical, and why go to the extent of blackmailing a doctor for it? Wouldn't any other chemical – more easily obtained on the market chemical - serve for a fake cure?"

Garrus nodded slowly. "Very well, Commander. I'll track the recipient of the chemical."

-(Scene Break)-

When Dr. Michel's assistant delivered the chemical to a Krogan in a plaza in front of Morlan's store in the Wards, Garrus quietly followed the recepient in an unmarked C-Sec staff skycar at a discreet distance. The Krogan evidently did not suspect that he was being followed, and he simply took one of C-Sec's publicly available skytrams to his destination - a drop box in a small shop that advertised adult pin-ups and the addresses of prostitutes in its shop window. The Krogan dropped the package in an empty box, and then, without another glance, simply turned and walked away. Garrus noted mentally that this shop likely took in drops from people without a regular address for a price. He would need to make inquiries about the callers for the package. But he still had the second part of his task to complete. He still needed to discover more about this Krogan, and, consequently, he followed the Krogan to what appeared to be his own apartment, and having observed the Krogan's apartment, decided to pursue the inquiries the next morning. He posted two men to keep watch on the Krogan, and left the place.

The next morning, Garrus had acquired the resources of C-Sec and put a four man squad to tail the Krogan and observe what he did, who he interacted with and whom he talked to. That done, he entered the landlord's home. The landlord, a big, strong, human, observed the Turian in some trepidation. But Garrus was charming, "I am from the Wards Council office, mister, and we are updating the electoral rolls. I just wanted to check who is living in this apartment, so we can update all the rolls."

"What d'ya want to know?" growled the human.

Garrus produced a list he had obtained from the Wards Council office, listing the tenants of the apartment, and began to query, "I want to know what houses these people live in. Mr. Vansittart?"

"Yep. He's here in the second floor. Second door on the right," returned the landlord.

The list went on, and the Krogan's name did not appear even when Garrus' list was exhausted. He then queried, "Anyone else is here?"

"Two other people," replied the landlord. "van Steyn – a human on the third floor, fourth house on the left. And Grazm – Krogan – second floor, fifth house on the left."

"These two been here long?"

"van Steyn's been here nearly an year. Grazm came here only three weeks ago." answered the landlord.

Garrus nodded, "Thank you. Tell these men we'll register their names to vote."

-(Scene Break)-

Garrus' underlings had followed the Krogan all day until he retired to his apartment late that night. They described the Krogan's movements. He had gone to work at the usual time. He worked at the _Dvirada _Construction company, owned by a Turian named Parnastus. The Krogan had worked quietly and efficiently until lunch, which he had had alone, without anyone else mingling with him. After that, he had returned to work, and had continued until evening. Then, he had gone down to the plaza near Morlan's shop, picked up another parcel from a human, and had dropped it in a drop box in the same small shop that Garrus had seen the previous evening. Then he had gone home to sleep. While the others had followed the Krogan, one person had followed the man who had handed in the parcel to Grazm. This man had been identified as Chin Woo, an assistant of Dr. Amelia Graham, another doctor on the wards.

Garrus reported all this to the Spectre, who had commended him on the work he had done, and instructed him to continue his watch on the Krogan and everyone he interacted with.

The next evening, it was the same news that the watchers brought. The Krogan had worked all day, and in the evening, he had picked up a parcel at the same plaza near Morlan's shop and dropped it in the same shop near the wards. This time, the man who had brought the parcel worked for a Turian doctor in the Wards. While the Krogan was at work, Garrus, in the guise of a maintenance worker, had entered the Krogan's apartment and had come up with only one interesting fact. The Krogan was being paid five thousand credits every other week from a company named _Alcataraz, _registered on Noveria.

Garrus had also placed a man on watch at the shop where the parcels had been dropped off to see where the parcels were being sent. The C-Sec officer followed the human who called for those parcels and followed him to a pharmaceutical warehouse named _Asterius,_ in the Wardsand dropped off the parcels there. The C-Sec officer had taken several holograms of the human, and C-Sec was able to identify the human in question. His name was Robert Kahawel and he worked as a delivery man for _Asterius, _picking up various pharmaceuticals for them from plenty of sources.

-(Scene Break)-

The next day was to bring shocking developments. Early next day, one of the C-Sec officers who had been assigned to following the Krogan brought in some horrifying news. He rushed into Garrus' office, gasping, "Heard the news, sir?"

"What?" asked Garrus.

"Dr. Graham has committed suicide!"

Shepard merely lifted an inquiring eyebrow. "Indeed? How did it come about?"

"Not sure, sir," returned the policeman. "Yesterday, she was apparently very depressed about something. Sometime during the night, she seems to have shot herself. Her assistant went in this morning, and found her dead, with a pistol clutched in her hand."

Shepard and Garrus exchanged a glance. "I think we had better take a look."

-(Scene Break)-

C-Sec officials had just arrived and were cordoning off the area, beginning their search in the office of the doctor. The appearance of a Spectre caused some confusion and consternation in the officer in charge, Detective Chellick. He was not pleased, and remarked as much. "This is a small affair, Cmdr. Shepard. One of our local problems. No experts need apply."

Shepard remarked soothingly, "I'm sure the case is in excellent hands, Detective. I don't intend to meddle at all." Seeing the other's evident relief, Shepard continued, "What have you found?"

"Seems like a straightforward suicide, sir," replied the Detective. "Door was locked on the inside. All windows closed and fastened from within. There was a pistol in her hand, and only one shot has been fired – into her own head. We have been making inquiries and the assistant says that the doctor was depressed a lot in the last few weeks. No one has come into the office since last night. The commissionaire in the building lobby swears that much. Looks like a depressed woman committing suicide."

"Have you found any suicide note?" inquired Shepard.

"No, Commander," answered Chellick.

Shepard's mind was racing. "Do you mind if I check a couple of things?"

"Go ahead," waved the Detective.

Shepard began looking through the dead woman's bank records. They showed that her financial condition was declining, but stable. His lips tightened, seeing that several transfers had been made to a major pharmaceutical company in the last several weeks. A quick glance at her requisition orders confirmed his suspicions. She had ordered three consignments of adrophinone. With the permission of the officer in charge, the took the requisition orders, and left the scene.

-(Scene Break)-

After returning to his office after checking the suicide, Shepard, Garrus and Wrex were huddled in an impromptu meeting. Shepard had asked Wrex to check the Krogan's background, while he was investigating the blackmail, and Wrex was ready with an update.

The meeting began as Garrus remarked, "Three doctors are being blackmailed. All for the same drug, adrophinone, I think. At least, two of them are for adrophinone and the parcel, in the case of the third, looks similar."

"All of them are adrophinone," returned Shepard quietly.

"How do you know that?" rumbled Wrex.

"Adrophinone is an extraordinarily hard drug to manufacture in that it requires some very intricate equipment to manufacture. Besides, there is not much demand for it. Consequently, there are only two manufacturers for it throughout the galaxy."

"And?" prompted Garrus, urging the Spectre to continue.

"I checked with both the manufacturers about recent orders. Our surmises were right. There has been a sudden spurt in demand for the drug on the Citadel, and on Ilium. On the Citadel, eight doctors – including the three we have seen being blackmailed – have placed large orders for the drug. The manufacturers are not able to account for this sudden need for the drug."

"So eight doctors on the Citadel are being blackmailed for this chemical," mused Garrus. "Why does anyone want this much of the drug?"

Shepard shook his head. "It is impossible to say for sure until we have discovered to whom the drug is going."

"Why couldn't doctors on Tuchanka, Thessia or Sur'Kesh or Earth be blackmailed for this drug, Shepard?" asked Wrex.

Shepard replied, "Export to Tuchanka is forbidden, I think. As for the other worlds, there are very few Krogan there. If an Earth doctor started ordering this drug, it would swiftly raise the question why since there are no Krogan there. Only a doctor on a multi-species world with a substantial population of Krogan would be able to order the chemical without raising too many suspicions. So – only doctors on such worlds – like the Citadel, and Ilium – can be blackmailed for the drug."

"What's the next step?" asked Garrus.

"Two things. First, we need to find out Fist's role in the whole affair. Second, to whom is this chemical going and why do they want it?"

"How do we find whom the chemical is going to?" asked Garrus.

"It is very hard, unless we know who is handling the adrophinone in the warehouse. If we just raid it, we'll never find the mole. And finding the mole – that is not going to be an easy task."

There was a long pause, and then Shepard continued, "Tell me, what have you two discovered about this Grazm?"

"He's from clan Notalec – a small clan on my homeworld," rumbled the Krogan battlemaster. "His clan got scattered when his Warlord – Okeer – got exiled from Tuchanka for doing things which even few Krogan would dare do. Anyway, one day, Okeer got hit by a rebellion by most of his own followers and an attack by two other clans. He could do nothing but flee with a handful of followers. This Grazm was one of those who followed Okeer into exile. But after several years, he and Okeer quarrelled, and he broke off with Okeer as well. From then on, he's been taking odd jobs all over the galaxy to make his living."

Wrex continued, "He came to the Ilium about twenty years ago, and he's been working with various gangs. Used mostly as a bouncer in bars, and as a bodyguard to protect ganglords. Never been involved in too much violence. Seems to have known just how much violence he could employ and when."

Garrus took up the story, "He arrived on the Citadel about three weeks ago. Since then, he has been working for the _Dvirada _construction company. He's caused no trouble there, and his employers seem pleased with him."

Shepard put together the information given him by his two colleagues. "So – collecting blackmailed chemicals is a step down for him?" he asked.

"A long step down, Shepard," returned Wrex.

Shepard thought for a long moment. "Do you think you can get this Grazm to talk, Wrex?"

The big Krogan shrugged, "He's not a battlemaster, so I can try. What do you want me to do, Shepard?"

Shepard explained his scheme at length. "Remember, we want evidence!"

Wrex nodded, and left.

"Garrus, this Fist must have his moles in C-Sec, yes?"

"Of course," nodded Garrus.

"Is there anyone you suspect?"

Garrus smiled. "Sure, Commander!"

"Excellent!" returned Commander Shepard. "Make sure he is on duty in the interrogation rooms tomorrow evening."

-(Scene Break)-

While Wrex had been preparing for a confrontation with Grazm, Shepard had been busy. At his invitation, a small human woman, hooded and cloaked, had come over to the Citadel to meet with him privately in the Flux. Shepard had set down Dr. Graham's requisition orders, and some of her other prescriptions before the newcomer, and explained his needs. The newcomer had agreed, and working from morning till evening, had finished her task just as dusk was falling. She had handed Cmdr. Shepard her handiwork, pocketed her fees, and left just as unobtrusively.

-(Scene Break)-

When Grazm returned to his house, he found another Krogan awaiting him inside his home. This Krogan was taller and heavier than himself, But this was not the first thought that registered itself on Grazm's mind. The only thing he realised was that this Krogan had entered inside without his permission. He growled, "Who the hell are you?! And how did you get here."

The other looked him with utter disdain. "Never mind how I got here. I'm someone who's got business with you."

"And what business's that?" rasped Grazm.

"This is my territory," growled Wrex. "You're collecting drugs from doctors, on my turf!"

"This is Fist's territory!" snarled the younger Krogan. "Not yours!"

Wrex's fist shot out, catching Grazm squarely in the face. The younger Krogan stumbled backwards, "Not anymore," Wrex growled. "It's mine now!"

Grazm was rising, and clutching his shattered face, as he growled, "Fist won't be pleased about this! And if you're smart, you'll stay the hell away from me!"

Another punch, and Grazm went staggering back. All the while, Grazm's mind was calculating furiously. He was alarmed, yet, at the same time, relieved. Alarmed that his associations with the doctors had been discovered, yet relieved that he had been discovered by a thug who thought he was a junkie or a pusher, and who could likely be paid off, played off, or bumped off without too much fuss. So he raised a hand in a pacific gesture. "Okay, okay – I'll give you a cut."

Wrex took two steps towards Grazm and head butted the younger Krogan. Wrex was a battlemaster, with his muscles honed by a millenium of combat, and consequently, a well timed blow from him was no small thing. Grazm did not stagger or check when Wrex's head struck him at the joining of the collar and neck. He went down as if hit by a truck. Wrex bent down to pick up Grazm by the bunched front of his clothes. His feet dangling in the air, and barely able to breathe as Wrex savagely lifted him off his feet, he heard the other growl, "You're on my territory, bastard! You'll bring everything you get from the doctor to me! I'll give you a share! Understood?!"

Unable to even choke out a reply, Grazm nodded dumbly. Wrex threw him contemptuously to the floor "Good. Bring your stuff to me tomorrow in the back alley off Chora's Den. If you ain't there..." Wrex's voice trailed off menacingly.

Grazm raised his hand in a placating gesture, nearly a surrender. "I'll be there!"

"Good! Don't fail!" With that, the big Krogan battlemaster turned and stalked out.

Grazm waited until he was sure that Wrex was gone, and then checked outside his door to make sure that he was indeed gone. Then he made the first mistake. He called Chora's Den – Fist's haunt – from his holo-vid, complaining bitterly about the attack on him. His call was on intercept and Tali had logged every word of it.

-(Scene Break)-

The next evening, Wrex approached the rendezvous. Garrus' C-Sec scouts had reconnoitred the area, and had informed Wrex that there were four humans and a krogan along with Grazm waiting for him in the back alley off Chora's den. Shepard, on hearing this report, had offered to send any support Wrex wanted, but the Krogan battlemaster had refused. Four humans and two Krogan pups certainly did not warrant any additional support in Wrex's books. He was more than capable of taking care of them. Shepard's orders had been clear. Get Grazm alive. The rest were irrelevant.

As he approached the rendezvous, he sensed the five moving all around him. The two Krogan were in front, waiting for him in the agreed upon spot. Two humans were standing away in elevated spots with sniper rifles. And two more were moving on his flank and rear.

Standing about thirty paces from the two Krogan, near a high concrete slab, one hand in a pocket, Wrex called, "Call your varren back and slip their leashes on them! They ain't invited!"

Seeing that his surprise had failed, Grazm screamed to his men, "Get him!" Ere the others could fire, Wrex's unseen hand emerged from the pocket, and he tossed an armed grenade at one of the snipers standing on a ledge, about twenty five feet high and fifty feet from Wrex. The grenade flew true to its aim, and the man with the sniper had little time to react. He dropped his rifle, and tried to kick the grenade away, but it exploded just as the human's foot lashed out, and his leg and lower body were blown to bits. He barely gave a scream, as he collapsed in a pool of his own blood, his rascally life ebbing away fast. Wrex had ducked behind the concrete slab, before the sniper or the other two humans could fire.

Wrex had chosen his position at the angle of two concrete slabs well, and neither of the Krogan, nor the sniper, nor the human on his right could reach him with their rifles, as long as he kept his head down. However, the human behind formed the flaw in Wrex's defence and the battlemaster resolved to deal with him first. His biotics flared and the human had barely raised his rifle to fire when he felt himself driven by a phenomenal force, head first into the wall behind him. His neck snapped like a rotten twig. He was dead before the knowledge that he was going to die had registered in his mind.

Wrex knew that the other humans and the Krogan might toss grenades into his hiding place, even if the angle of the slab shielded him from direct rifle fire. So, even as the human behind him was falling, Wrex had propelled himself backwards along the ground with his biotics and sheltered himself in the doorway an abandoned shop. Wrex's instincts had been accurate – no sooner had he thrown himself backwards into the shop, than two grenades landed near his old hiding place, exploding harmlessly.

Wrex's move into the doorway had been out of the line of sight of the others. They were now looking in some trepidation and interest to see if Wrex had been finished off by the grenades. The Krogan bodyguard barked out an order, and the sniper took up a position to cover his old hiding place, the two krogan took up positions on either flank of his hiding place, and the human on his right began inching his way towards the concrete slabs.

Wrex waited patiently until the human had crawled around the angle of the slab, and armed another grenade. Timing his attack perfectly, he tossed it at the second sniper, his throw aided by his biotics to land at precisely the spot he aimed for. Even as he threw the grenade, his shotgun blazed at the human who had crawled to his old hiding place. The sniper, seeing the grenade sailing towards him, dropped his rifle and tried to leap down to safety, but unfortunately for him, Wrex had thrown a fragmentation bomb, and not a standard stick grenade. The explosion strewed his body parts all over the alley. The shotgun had been equally effective. The human had taken the blast full in the face, and upper body, and giving one convulsive shudder, lay still.

Seeing all the squad slaughtered, Fist's Krogan bodyguard gave a roar of rage and rushed towards Wrex, intent on killing this upstart, but he was facing a battlemaster. The physical confrontation was intense, but brief. A minute later, the Krogan bodyguard lay stretched on the ground, insensible. Wrex's fists were certainly effective.

Grazm, in the meantime, seeing that the ambush had failed, had decided to hightail it. He rushed to the other end of the alley, and suddenly found himself paralysed. He looked around, and realised that he had run into a full biotic static field, that was being maintained by two figures, a human and an Asari. He roared and struggled, but the struggles were brief. A moment later, another figure fired a dart into him, and Grazm felt all strength leaving him.

-(Author's Notes)-

Okay – there you have the first breakthrough for Shepard. I am using the Dr. Michel's blackmail quest in a different fashion. Do guess what you would do if you were Shepard. Coming up next, some information warfare from all aides.

By the way, do guess who the woman Shepard met privately was. And if you can guess her identity, you may also be able to guess what Shepard is trying to do.

As usual, all comments and criticisms are welcome.


End file.
